Posts By: Megan Manning

Nurture Commitment – By Kate Nash

Posted on April 29, 2020 by Megan Manning
Pass It On: Health and Safety for Young Women and Girls Phase II, SWOVA News

Pass It On members with Coordinator/Facilitator Kate Nash

As the last months of Pass it On pass by, I am confronted with the word commitment. We all practice commitment in our lives, more often unconsciously. We are the most committed to our lovers, children, friends and habits, following through in our support without thought or question.

Pass it on is a program that relies on commitment. Enthusiastic and optimistic young woman join the program in September, committing themselves to weekly meetings and phone calls with younger buddies. Overly confident, they make bold promises and form expectations of their commitment and engagement. We all do it. When something excites us we promise commitment, in whatever form. The actuality of that commitment over the test of time can often break us. Are we taught in life how to follow through?

What keeps us committed? Love, engagement, necessity, devotion, ego? In these bustling days of high expectations, we often over-commit ourselves, but under-commit ourselves in all the little ways. As an overly empathetic person, I often find myself seeing all the gaps and roles I should fill and neglecting the most necessary commitments like quiet days with my family working on projects solely for us. By April, young women in Pass it On who had made big expectations of commitment in the beginning are often left floundering, overly committed and on the brink of graduation or summer, creating new expectations, and new commitment.

Do we breed this in our society? Do we support and nurture commitment? What significance does commitment hold? Does it nurture us? I am beginning to believe that one’s commitment to another makes or breaks them. I believe that when we demonstrate commitment to one another and follow through with it, we excel. When we speak with someone and commit to the conversation, with eye contact and our full attention, a trust is developed. When we trust, we relax, we open up, we show more, feel more and give more back. I am beginning to believe that we need to make more small simple commitments to one another so that we can begin to discern more clearly the larger, broader commitments we can truly make and truly fulfill. When we commit ourselves to a conversation, a moment, an action, we are giving genuine support. When we are genuinely supported we begin to grow and thrive.

Every year I see the mentor buddy relationships develop healthier, happier and more confident young women. Imagine a world where young women and men experienced regular dedicated commitment to the moments of their lives. Not just from family, but from friends, teachers and community members. I challenge you to be more committed to the moment – to those you are sharing it with and to yourself. If you are moved, show your support. A supportive community is committed to our advancement, and advance is what we do every day.

If feel so inspired, please join us in Pass it On this Thursday evening at Sparkfest. Come and celebrate a small group of young women all practicing the art of commitment and support. A program making small steps in confidence and character building for young women here on Salt Spring.

By Kate Nash, Mentor Supervisor & Pass It On Coordinator

Sparkfest

A benifit for SWOVA’s Pass It On program

Thursday April 30th
Harbour House Hotel, Orchard Room
7:30 doors, 8:00pm start.
$20 advance tickets at Salt Spring Books $25 at the door

Presenting:
Ashleigh Ball (from Hey Ocean and voice artist for My Little Ponies and Care Bears)
Tara Maclean
Suzanne Little
Morgan Klassen (spoken word)
GISS ladies only improv

and much more

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SWOVA – Empowering Youth for a Better Tomorrow

Be Inspired! Sparkle at Sparkfest

Posted on April 15, 2020 by Megan Manning
Pass It On: Health and Safety for Young Women and Girls Phase II, SWOVA News, Youth programs

Good News! Sparkfest is weeks away, and we are all getting very excited for our 5th annual Pass It On benefit.

Sparkfest will be held on April 30th at the Harbour House Hotel.

This year’s generous performers are Ashleigh Ball from Hey Ocean; the Brony documentary; Tara Maclean; Suzanne Little; spoken word from Morgan Klassen; improv from the ladies only GISS imrov team; and Pass It On youth participants will share their stories and talents. To top it all off we will have our amazingly stacked silent auction. Every penny goes towards running the Pass It On program. Pass It On is one of several programs for youth operated by SWOVA. Please come out to support this intimate and amazing night.

Thursday, April 30^th 7:30pm

Harbour House Hotel, Orchard Room

Doors open at 7:30, show starts at 8:00.

Tickets are $20 in advance at the SWOVA office, 344 Lower Ganges Rd, SSI Mon – Weds 9-5 (250-537-2020) and Salt Spring Books, 104 McPhillips Ave,
or $25 at the door

Previous artists who have performed at Sparkfest:-

Why I Call Myself a Feminst / # Name Calling – By Sharyn Carroll

Posted on March 31, 2020 by Megan Manning
From the Headlines

Feminist: Adjective – of relating to or advocating for equal rights for women; advocating for social, political, legal, and economic rights for women equal to those of men.

Noun – An advocate for such rights; a person who advocates for equal rights for women.

I, Sharyn Carroll, call myself a feminist. Not an equalist or humanist. There is a lot of nostalgic admiration contained in this word for me although at times the word is hurled at me as an insult. I hear gen-z asking if it is not time to change it to something that speaks to all gender variations. This may be a question to consider but first it is important to look at its relevance.

The use of the term feminism speaks to the systematic injustices that have been historically put into place, to make women lesser than, or unequal, globally. Being a feminist does not mean that I only stand on the side of equal pay for equal work, or lobby against domestic violence in the place that I live, it means speaking up for the right of all woman to breast feed whenever their child is hungry; I lend my voice to young woman and girls who are forced into marriages with men old enough to be their fathers; I advocate for all girls to get educated; I speak out for girls and young boys who are forced into sexual slavery; and I express my concern that everyone understands what consent means.

To call myself a feminist means that I understand that we are all in this together — women and men. To live in a world where women are liberated means that men are also free. Free to live in a world where self-expression is not confined to gender roles. Free from having the weight of the world put on their shoulders, because they have to “man-up” and handle it all. It means transgendered persons are just that, people. I would rather live in a world where acceptance of any human trait is seen as just that. A recent report by United Nations states that in the twenty years since it set out to achieve gender equality not one country has been able to achieve this.

Calling myself a feminist means I pay homage to those who have come before me and speaks to a history of advocacy for a struggle that is unique to women world-wide. It also means that I understand the next generation will probably do things differently. Holding onto this word may make me nostalgic or even old fashioned, but when I use it I don’t have to really explain where I am coming from. I embodied this word long before I knew what it meant and will continue to do so for the rest of my existence because it is who I am.

By Sharyn Carroll, R + R Facilitator

SWOVA Empowering Youth for a Better Tomorrow

Human Trafficking – By Kevin Vowles

Posted on March 17, 2020 by Megan Manning
From the Headlines

It has been said that “Rape is one of the most terrible crimes on earth and it happens every few minutes. The problem with groups who deal with rape is that they try to educate women about how to defend themselves. What really needs to be done is teaching men not to rape. Go to the source and start there.” Kurt Cobain.

When I saw this quote I was heartened to know that one of my childhood musical influences was outspoken on a subject, which has long driven me to work in the violence prevention field. As I have said before I have known many women in my life affected by this most egregious form of gender-based violence. The basis of all violence is a lack of empathy, concern, entitlement to harm, and lack of consent.

Of course we know that there are thousands of missing women in this country, many of who may be being held against their will. They are kidnapped each year by men and are of course likely being subjected to rape on an on-going basis.

What makes me feel more outright rage though are the vast numbers of women and girls being trafficked each and every year. When I mention human trafficking in circle work, people often think I am referring to women and girls being brought in from Eastern Europe, Africa, or Asia. In fact, the majority of victims in Canada are Canadians. The average age of a girl is trafficked is 13, and the reason that girls are vulnerable is because they have left home because of violence. Violence begets violence. I can scarcely think of a crime other than murder, which is more horrendous for a young girl to experience. Rape is torture. For girls and women confined against their will by pimps, daily life is surely hell. Many become addicted to drugs to soothe the pain of the on-going violation of their bodies.

Globally there are nearly 30 million people being trafficked and held against their will, through more than 460 known trafficking routes. 58% of trafficking globally is for sexual slavery. 75% of the victims of human trafficking are women and girls. 98% of victims for the purposes of sexual slavery are women and girls. 99% of the pimps are men, and in Canada they are profiting to the tune of $280,000 per female in their possession. There are over 2,000,000 children enslaved sexually globally, and the global sexual slavery trade is a 99 billion dollar industry.

So, what can we do? We can teach men not to rape and that women are not property. But how is this going to influence a swiftly spiraling out of control problem? As Ghandhi said with regards to peace, we must start with the children. We must inspire the next generation to become activists against this most terrible of human rights abuses. We must educate about systemic global violence, and there can be no better place to start than with human trafficking.

By Kevin Vowles, R+R Facilitator

Media Literacy – By Sharyn Carroll

Posted on March 3, 2020 by Megan Manning
From the Headlines

Technology use is now intertwined with our lives so much that we live in a culture where we are constantly being bombarded with messages from the media at an alarming rate. Our love of media is not a new one. According to the Halifax Insurance Digital Home Index, youth are now spending more time interacting with technology than they do with their families. But youth are not the only ones. The adults in their intermediate soundings are modeling this new behavioural trend. We use the media for various reasons: to entrain, distract, gather information, educate, socialize, advocate and to connect with others.

Media literacy in this new way of life means being able to deconstruct the messages, not just for ourselves, but also for others in our lives. By deconstructing the messages we understand the influence media has on culture and society and gain insight into the methods marketers employ to get our attention. It is then that we can recognize misinformation and ‘spin’. When we are able to achieve this we can better evaluate these messages, advocate for change and create and distribute our own messages. How do we get there? By asking a few routine questions:

Who was the message created for and does the value system of the intended audience match the values conveyed in the message or is there a disconnect?
Can you easily identify who is the creator of the message?
Who is left out of the message?
Who else other than the target audience stands to be influenced by the message?
What are they trying to sell, inform or educate you about? Or simply put: what is the message telling me or leaving out?
Can I easily verify these messages?
What values or lifestyles are being portrayed or deleted in the message?
In the case of TV advertisement, is the time of day fitting to the target audience?
How does the message reinforce stereotypes?
How can the message be interpreted differently by different segments of the population?
How is the message constructed?
And most importantly: do you agree with what you’re seeing? If not, ask yourself why and talk to people that you are connected to about it.

It is important, in the case of youth, that we take the time to help them critically analyze what messages they are receiving and how media can easily set trends for healthy and unhealthy lifestyle choices.

By Sharyn Carroll, R + R Facilitator

SWOVA – empowering youth for a better tomorrow

Gender Based Violence as Exemplified by Tugce Albayrak – by Kevin Vowles

Posted on February 17, 2020 by Megan Manning
From the Headlines

There’s a lot of big stuff going on right now, that as my colleague at the Canadian Women’s Foundation, Diane Hill, noted recently are watershed moments. From Jian Ghomeshi and our MPs, to conversations about what consent really means, reporting violations, and an overall renewed enthusiasm for discussion of gender based violence as a whole, we are living in a remarkable time. I call it peak-awareness in conversation with people. We are reaching a state of heightened awareness about gender-based violence.

A group I’m working with at Royal Roads University notes: “The United Nations defines Gender Based Violence as: “Any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or in private life.” (www.studentsagainstviolence.ca)

Of course gender based violence is not the only thing we should be talking about. Men experience war, physical violence from other men, homophobia, risky and unrealistic gender norms and expectations, and sometimes violence from other women. Hell, there’s been a rash of male teenage hockey players in the USA being molested by their friends’ moms. Boys do get molested by women and men. However, the difference lies in power. Gender based violence is based on one person having significant power over another.

Nowhere is this more evident, and nowhere is the need for the conversation more evident, than the case of Tugce Albayrak in Germany. Tugce intervened in a washroom where men were harassing teenage girls. She showed bravery and courage, as she became an active by-stander that day. The men left the washroom and the girls, but they did not forget, and one of them proceeded to beat her into a coma in the parking lot, allegedly with a baseball bat. She subsequently died.

As I sat with SWOVA’s youth team I expressed feeling upset and disheartened by this. I asked youth to talk about things that upset them, in an effort to allow them to show tears and grief, because we know that if we keep it bottled up it’s going to negatively impact us. I also asked them “if they could be a superhero who would they be?” Most youth spoke of batman, spiderman and superman. I’ve asked this question before and it’s a fairly typical response. When it came around to me, I said I’d be a superhero that stops gender-based violence. Of course Tugce Albayrak was that superhero that fateful day in McDonald’s.

Standing up for what is right is never an easy thing and she paid the ultimate price for her courage and bravery. She paid the ultimate price for standing up to sexism and objectification and harassment. She paid the price and now we must have the conversation about being a by-stander and the risks entailed with that. She’s a true hero and she allows us to peel back the onion one more layer; to dive a little deeper and hopefully create the dialogue needed to create empathy, compassion and a vision of a future where all people can be free of the threat of violence.

by Kevin Vowles, R+R Facilitator

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SWOVA empowering youth for a better tomorrow

Stressed Out Youth – by Sharyn Carroll

Posted on January 27, 2020 by Megan Manning
Youth programs

Youth, just like adults, face many stressors. Stress can have negative impacts on individual lives and create obstacles in relationships. In my experience I see youth as young as 13 years old feeling stressed out and overwhelmed on a daily basis.

Stress affects both our physical and mental health. Understanding how each of us experiences stress and how our bodies react can be a powerful indicator in identifying our stressors and decreasing its effects. Symptoms often start in the mind, but are usually not recognized until they manifest in our bodies. Some of the symptoms of stress are: worrying, forgetfulness, exhaustion or feeling overtired, feeling unwell, knots in the pit of your belly, sweating, headaches, body aches and thoughts of running away. Some of the triggers that cause stress are; dating relationships, relationships with parents, lack of money or difficulty managing money, increased responsibility, sexual orientation, gender identity, death or illness in the family, homework, deadlines, grades, social stressors, and graduation.

When we don’t pay attention to stress it can manifest in our lives as unhealthy behaviours, such as drinking or smoking too much, risk taking behaviours, being overly critical of yourself and others, lack of self-esteem or spending a lot of time in front of the TV or excessive online gaming, or/and withdrawing. Stress can be an underlying factor in other mental health issues such as anxiety and depression which can lead to self-harm and suicide.

Once you recognize the signs of stress it is easier to manage how much of an impact it will make in your life. Some of the things you can do when you feel your stress levels raising are:

Move – go for a walk, hike or bike ride, turn the music up and dance like nobody’s watching. If you have a sport that you enjoy, go out and do it. A regular physical hobby will also help to keep your daily stress down.
Be artistic – paint a picture, knit a sweater, play your guitar or simply sing a song.
Giggle – watch a movie that makes you laugh or hang out with those friends, that together, you laugh till your sides hurt.
Breathe – focus on your breathing. Practice mindfulness, or mediation.
Volunteer – Do something for someone or simply practice random acts of kindness.
Gratitude – Think of or make a list of all the positives in your life. Think of all the things you have learned in the last year or an issue that you have moved past.
Feel – recognize where you are and what you are feeling and understand that nothing is permanent.
Talk – about how you feel with a friend, parents, or someone that makes you feel safe.

Remember that stress is an individual experience and it looks and feels different for everyone. Everyone will experience some stress in their lives – how you manage your way through it is up to you.

by Sharyn Carroll – R + R Facilitator

SWOVA Empowering Youth for a Better Tomorrow

Nominate an Emerging Changemaker for International Women’s Day

Posted on January 14, 2020 by Megan Manning
SWOVA News

Since 2020, International Women’s Day (IWD) has been an opportunity to recognise exceptional achievements of women. To celebrate IWD this year SWOVA will be honouring Emerging Leaders – young women who are already making exceptional contributions to life in the Southern Gulf Islands.

We are seeking nominations from the community of girls and young women (up to 39 years old) who have been an inspiration to other women, changed their community or world, challenged barriers, or demonstrated leadership in other ways that have impressed you.

These young women will be celebrated at the second annual Changemaker Awards dinner on Saturday, March 7, 2020, at the Harbour House Hotel and Organic Farm. Our MP, Elizabeth May, will present the awards to the nominees.

Tickets for the dinner last year sold out early and Islanders were clamouring for more. The event was so inspiring and well-received that SWOVA has decided to make the event an annual celebration and fund raiser. Dinner tickets will go on sale on February 7, 2020 and can be purchased at Salt Spring Books for $35 each.

To Nominate a Young Changemaker:

Please tell us in 450 words or less why you think your nominee should be honoured as an Emerging Leader. Provide contact information for yourself and your nominee. Due to the popularity of last year’s event and because there are many amazing emerging leaders in our community, we will only be celebrating the first 15 nominations received. Nominations will close when 15 have been received or at 5pm on February 4^th, 2020 – whichever comes first.

Send entries via email to: [email protected] or snail mail to SWOVA, 344 Lower Ganges Road, Salt Spring Island, BC, V8K 2V3. For more information call: 250-537-2020 (Office hours: Monday to Thursday, 9 am to 5 pm.)

SWOVA empowering youth for a better tomorrow