Good morning, everyone. My name is Achan. I'm a Boys and Girls Club alumna. I went to the Ottawa Clubhouse, but there are 650 locations across Canada and over 250,000 youth who are served throughout the country each year.
My involvement began in 2002 when I moved to Canada as a refugee from Sudan. The club was a safe place for my siblings and me to go to because we lived in a high-risk community, and the club provided educational recreational leadership programs. I was able to get my first job as a youth worker at the age of 16, so I went on to study social service work, working in addictions a little bit out in Calgary. It was a really great experience. I'm now a post-secondary graduate and advocating for equal education opportunities for people in my community and across Canada.
It's really important for me to speak to you about the role of education in reducing poverty, because I see many people in my community who don't have the opportunity to reach their full potential. They don't have access to resources such as summer camps and homework help, which I think would be really helpful for especially children and youth. My hope is to see the government invest in more programs for young people to find different ways to go to school, whether that would be colleges, universities, or apprenticeships, just to find different creative ways to also encourage them. Children and youth who are living in poverty are exposed to difficult social environments, housing insecurity, and food insecurity as well, which makes it difficult for them to succeed in education, whether that be elementary or high school and so on and so forth. Sometimes you just need a little bit of encouragement as well.
At the Boys and Girls Club, I was able to have my mentors sit down with me each week to give me information about which programs to apply to, how to get scholarships, and what to expect when you first move away for school. That was really important for me. My twin sister went on to study art therapy. She still is going strong and finding her way. I'm really excited for her. I am currently job hunting like every other post-secondary graduate in the country and trying to find.... I'm just keeping busy with my volunteering.
I think the most important thing I want you guys to take away from this is that by providing educational opportunities, we can ensure that young people across Canada can do better for themselves and for their families as well, and can help this country move forward.
Thank you.