NBM's a comin' Yeehaa.

That right folks, NBM is almost here. In just two short weeks the Juniors of Canada will be meeting out west for the first time in many a year in the lovely city of Calgary. Some things to look forward to include: JB Goals fun times, Adult- Junior hang out action, and a lot of bad cowboy jokes. We'll also be passing motions, doing elections and thinking up big ideas.

For all our eager NBM attendees, don't forget to do some homework before you come and get ready to bring things back to your chapter. NBM is a busy time so the more you've done before hand the better off you'll be. All the motions, reports and documents will be posted in the members' only section of the CISV Canada website soon- look them over, print them off and get familiar with the plan for the weekend. Also, take some time to think about what you want to get out of NBM and what you want your chapter to get out of it. How can you achieve these goals? Lastly, get ready for a party- NBM is always a great time!

To everyone who's coming we can't wait to see you and to everyone who's not, don't worry, your chapter chairs will be bringing back lots of great ideas, energy and tools- make sure you ask them all about it.

T minus 14 days. -kathy and kalenne

We leave you with a few shots from our fabulous National Camp. Once again a ginormous success. National Camp- it just proves how much our Juniors rock. And how many bugs there are in Saskatoon. Wow.

Next stop: Saskatchewan

A Quick Update. Kathy and Kalenne have both departed from lovely Florence and are now back on their respective oceans, at least for a few days.

This is another hilarious sign from the AIM site. Although not as funny as the 'No Tourists' sign it might say more than originally intentioned.

National Camp is just a few days away so the NJRs are already getting ready to set off to Saskatoon to set up and get ready to welcome all the participants.

We're really excited for camp and that excitement only gets stronger as:a) camp gets closer and b) we get more sleep.

This year's theme is 'One Beat' and is meant to capture a sense of unity while celebrating our differences. The Plains Cree of Saskatchewan used drums in many of their ceremonies as well as during gatherings with other tribes.

Although they had different songs and equipment they came together to create their own beat as a group. This is what we hope to do with National Camp- bring people together from coast to coast with different ways of thinking and living, and have them contribute that experience to create their own unique beat.

Watch for our prairie update, coming after camp. Peace out home slices. K and K

Discuter!!! Discuss!!!

CISV ONLY, NO TOURISTS

Salut a tous les membres de la Branche Junior du Canada! Kathy et Kalenne sont encore à Firenze, peut être la ville la plus chaude du monde- oui, on sait que c'est probablement (sûrement) incorrect mais la chaleur nous fait confuses.

Hello to everyone from JB Canada! Kathy and Kalenne are still in Firenze, maybe the hottest city in the world- yes, we know this is probably (definitely) wrong but the heat's confusing us.

Premièrement, on a une grande nouvelle de te raconter. Maru Ayam de l’Argentine était choisi comme la prochaine IJR (International Junior Rep).* Elle travaillera avec notre amie Kelly Bowden pour l’année qui vienne.
*Attends, c’est quoi un IJR? – C’est un peu comme un NJR, mais pour le monde. Oui, c’est un travail énorme.

Firstly, we have big news. Maru Ayam from Argentina has been chosen as the next IJR (International Junior Rep).* She will work with our friend Kelly Bowden for the coming year.
*Wait, what's IJR?- It's a bit like NJR, but for the world. Yes, it's a huge job.

Et maintenant, on veut vraiment entendre qu’est-ce que tu penses de quelque motions qui sont sur l’agenda des adultes.

And now, we really want to hear what you think of a few motions that are on the adult agenda.

Premièrement: Les programmes avec les jeunes (Village, Summer Camp etc) devraient éliminer l’alcool complètement, sauf pour ‘Leaders’ Weekend’ et ‘Leaders’ Night Out’. C’est une bonne idée?

First: Programmes where youth are present (Village, Summer Camp etc) should eliminate alcohol from the camp completely, except for 'Leaders' Weekend' and 'Leaders' Night Out'. Is is a good idea?

Deuxièmement: Summer Camp devrait changer à une programme offrit seulement pour les jeunes de 14 ou 15 ans. Les camps de 13 ans seraient discontinus parce qu’ils ne remplient pas les buts éducatifs au mêmes niveaux que les autres ages.

Secondly: Summer Camp should change to a programme offered only to youth aged 14 or 15. 13 year old camps would be discontinued as they aren't fullfilling the educational goals to the same level as the other ages.

Alors, dans le section ‘Comments’ donne nous vos opinions sur ses sujets, peut être, ça commencera une discussion.

So, in the 'Comments' section give us your opinions on these subjects, maybe, it'll turn into a discussion.

Avec amour d’Italie. Love from Italy. K and K

**UPDATE**
The Summer Camp motion was passed. We will now be focusing on developing the 14 and 15 year old camps.

The alcohol motion was tabled until next year (read: no decision was reached). As an interesting note however, from my perspective had it gone to a vote it wouldn't have passed. A lot of people feel casual drinking is part of their culture and we should be able to trust leaders to drink responsibly. I guess we'll have to wait until next AIM to see what happens....

What do you actually DO at IJBC?

So with IJBC drawing to a close the question remains, what exactly have Kathy and Kalenne been doing anyway?

To be honest, it's hard to say. You know when you come back from a Mini Camp and your friends want to know what you were doing all weekend and you have a really hard time explaining and before you know it you're throwing around words that on their own make almost no sense at all? Ya, it's like that. Except less awkward because we know you understand. Kalenne and her IJBC/AIM tag

But in the spirit of blogging we'll try anyway.

Our sessions have been divided into 4 topics:

- Junior Branch: As you can guess these are sessions about, surprise surprise, JB. They are aimed at aiding in the development of our JBs, locally, nationally and internationally. For example, we might do a session on the JB Goals, so we can use them more effectively when we get back to our chapters.

- Global movement: These are sessions to get us thinking about taking what we've learned in CISV outside to create movement. We as a JB are a global movement, cool right? These sessions aimed to get us thinking about how we as JBers can have more of an impact as a worldwide movement and also how we can become more engaged in other already existing global movements, for example, Peace One Day.

-Open Space: This is time for participants to develop ideas they think are important and are
interested in. They are like working groups at NBM. We brainstorm discussion or project topics and then split off to develop them. They can range from things like planning regional workshops to putting together a magazine or discussing how CISV can be more green.

-Parallel Experiences: This is a time when we break off into different groups to enjoy a session that interests us. It's the same as tripod time at NMB. This allows participants to use their time how they feel would be best for them and their JB. Yay

Kathy on the bus to ARMM.
The sessions were way more exciting.
We promise.

Whew, that's a lot of stuff. Along with formal sessions we're always story sharing and discussing challenges and successes of our JBs. As you can imagine a lot of the time these are really similar between different National Associations (NAs).

Well, that was a long one, but stay tuned for shorter posts with lots of funny pictures (we already have a few planned). If you're reading this please leave a comment, Kalenne needs constant validation. Love the NJRs

The view from our Tuscan Villa aka the ARMM site

NJR italy blog one

The NJRs are in Italy! Check out our first video blog....

All Our Bags are Packed...

In just a matter of hours Kathy and Kalenne will be jetting off to Italy for the biggest CISV meetings around. In fact we'll be going to three: ARMM, IJBC and AIM. What do all these acronyms stand for? Here's the rundown.

ARMM: The America's Regional Members' Meeting. This is the first place we'll be heading off to. It's a meeting/ training/ CISV good time for everyone from the America's Region, which includes North, Central and South America. Even though it's a meeting focused on the America's Region, it's so darn convenient there's sure to be some guests from other regions (like Europe and Asia Pacific). It's facilitated by the ARM team, which is sort of like JB Canada's executive and some Home Staff.

IJBC: The International Junior Branch Conference. This is a conference/ training/ CISV mutual learning experience for all Juniors from around the world. Wow. It's facilitated by the IJRs (sort of like the NJRs, but for the world) and previously nominated IJR candidates as well as some lovely Home Staff. This year's theme is 'Reflect and Act'.

AIM: This is the Annual International Meeting. This is the 'adult' meeting. It's a time for reports, motion voting and hopefully lots of funny antics. It's for CISVers from all over the world so this= lots of CISV in one place. Nice. This year's theme is 'Peace Education in a Multicultural City'.

As your NJRs Kathy and Kalenne will be representing Canada at the ARMM and IJBC and taking a bit more of an observer role at AIM, where CISV Canada's trusty trustee Rick Uy will be taking over as the front man. We know what you're thinking and don't worry, we're keeping our eyes on Rick and making sure he stays in line.

As NJRs we'll be soaking up anything we can to bring back to JB Canada, evaluating the past year as well as doing some strategic planning for next year and lots of other good stuff. If you want us to talk about something, ask around about how other countries are doing things or help you out with anything drop us an email at njr@ca.cisv.org or leave a note on this blog. Check back often for updates, as you can imagine these meetings are pretty busy places and cool stuff happens fast.

Ciao for now. Kathy and Kalenne

SBTF 08 status: great sucess!

SBTF 2008: Riding the LeaderSHIP!

Well friends, or should we say "arug mateys!", another spring board training forum has come an gone. The participants have returned to their chapter, their heads and binders filled with jb love, inspiration, and knowledge. And excessive amounts of pirate lingo.

This year's forum was a huge success. Sure it rained a lot of the time, but from May 16 to the 19th, 23 individuals gathered in downtown toronto to be engaged, challenged, and generally shook-up, pirate leadership-style.

We spent a lot of time in one very colourful room, looking at what makes a good leader. We discussed challenges and brainstormed ways to solve them together. We were lucky to have both developing chapters, Halifax and Montreal represented.

By dissecting the elements that make up a junior branch, we improved our own leadership skills, but also learned how to pass this knowledge onto others. A tour around the university of toronto campus took us to different stations where we shared stories about communication, adult liaisons, activities, promotion, recruitment, and so much more.

We were introduced to lots of the different functions of jb canada, and jb international. The junior branch development committee presented us with brand-new junior-branch co-chair manuals, and we saw presentations from the international junior branch committee.

As we became friends, and realized our similarities and differences, we were able to connect and form a community that will last despite the geographical monstrosity that is Canada. The leaders of JB Canada parted ways on the 19th of May 2008, with a few tears, but with renewed energy to continue fueling the great machine that is jb canada.

As NJR's, Kathy and Kalenne were very tired by the end of the weekend, but so filled with love from all of the brilliant leaders who attended the training. A huge thank you to the participants for making SBTF as incredible as it was!

so much love,

Kathy | Kalenne

Hello again!

Lovely to see you all. Kalenne and Kathy here in Toronto, enjoying the whimsical banter of cisv canada's adult board and executive.

Every year, the adult executive (of which Kalenne and Kathy are a part) and the chapter chairs from all over Canada gather for the
spring board meeting. This is a weekend full of motions, reports, and networking. Sort of like a mini-nbm that works as a mid-year
check in.

Kalenne and Kathy also present a mid-year report and a fancy powerpoint presentation, which we would love to send to you if you are interested in reviewing it. They will also both be avaliable on cisv canada's website (cisv.ca) in the member's only section. This report was well received, and all the adults were very impressed at our supreme level of awesome-ness.

Because Kathy and Kalenne live on opposite ends of the country, we are extending our stay in toronto until tuesday to give us time to
have a mid-way meeting for ourselves.

Here are some things we hope to accomplish:

review and planning of the junior branch budget!
planning of this year's spring board training forum
preparations for this year's armm, ijbc, and aim
brainstorming new ways to connect to and help out all of you lovely folk!

So please, if you have anything you would like to share with us, or you would like us to discuss while we are meeting, please let us know!
Have something you think the participants of the spring board training forum should be trained on? Have an idea for nbm next year?
Have an idea for a national project? Funny joke? Let us know at njr@ca.cisv.org!

looking forward to hearing from you!

kathy | kalenne

Sail away on the Leadership

It's almost that time again... Time for incoming chairs and interested Junior Board members from across Canada to come together for a long weekend of fun, excitement and leadership training.

JB Canada's own Spring Board Training Forum (SBTF) is still being held the May long weekend but this year it will be moving from Ottawa to Toronto. Our theme is Riding the Leadership (get it? here at NJR headquarters we thought it was pretty clever) so get ready for a weekend of bad theme pirate jokes but really good training for everything you need to set your JB up for smooth sailing. We looking to have representation from right across Canada from all our lovely chapters so get ready, we can't wait to see you all! This year we also have the pleasure of welcoming the lovely and talented Keenan Dixon to the training team as home staff. She's been working hard to sort out a lot of the logistical stuff and we are super appreciative.

For more information email the NJRs at njr@ca.cisv.org We can set you up with forms and answer any questions you have. If you're coming this year and you have a specific topic you'd like covered in Training let us know and we'll try to set up a session.

Also huge thanks to everyone who took time to check in with us during the NJR online time. The flow of communication both ways is so important and it really helps us give direction to JB Canada when we know how you're all feeling. Remember, we always love to chat and hear what's happening in your chapters, good and bad, so don't be shy, drop us a line. If you send us an email and we can set up a time to talk or you can find us anytime on MSN and Skype.

Big love from ocean to ocean. Kathy and Kalenne

Imagine us is a Mini Van

Can you picture it? A CISV van full of your JB exec members traveling the country from coast to coast visiting your chapters and having fun... Well, it's not quite in the budget this year but don't worry, we still want our presence to be felt, making jokes, brainstorming and lending a hand (or giving a free ride) if you need it. Since the addition of the communications team we've had to upgrade from a hatchback, and add a few seats from executives of the past, but now we've worked out some kinks and this year the road ahead looks clear. We're all excited to start the roadtrip, so here they are, this year's executive members...

The NJRs (National Junior Representatives)
Sr. NJR
So I'm Kathy Lewis. Originally from Fredericton, I now live and go to school in Halifax, where I study contemporary history and philosophy, international relations, and gender and women's studies. I have grown to love my new macbook, but am still not as fluent as Alex. I like tea and knitting, but I have been known to get out of the house once in a while for the occasional beer. I love CISV Canada because the juniors have to be extra creative due to our geographical and financial constraints. And they usually go above and beyond the challenge. While I am scared as all hell to be sr. njr, I am incredibly jazzed to be working with such an amazing exec. In my free time I work on the theme committee for the ijb, and am a trainnee on the international mosaic committee. I work at a women's centre as the activism coordinator, and make interesting collages with newspapers and magazines I steal out of recycling bins. I also tend to have unusually animated conversations with my gender-ambiguous goldfish Ralph. He's a horrible listener. Ungrateful jerk.

Jr. NJR
Hey everyone! My name is Kalenne Thors and I'm originally from the Victoria chapter but I'm currently living in Vancouver, in my second year at UBC. I'm still involved at a local level in Victoria and I'm hoping to get more involved in the Vancouver Chapter, if only the city wasn't so big and I wasn't so busy :)
I'm studying Political Science and I generally like everything associated with that, as well as sports, weekends, recycling and watching movies with my roommates when I really don't have time. I also like holidays and other things that are easily themed. I dislike being bored, not remembering where I put things and the giant puddle that forms outside the Arts building when it rains a lot. I'm super excited to be taking on the job of NJR, continuing on the 'K' tradition and working with everyone (and I mean everyone, JBers, adults, your friend, your cat...).
We really like you (yes you) a lot. We think you're pretty cool. We also like hearing from you. Through the wonders of technology you can email us both, at the same time, at njr@ca.cisv.org or leave a comment here. Sweet.


The NCC (National Camp Coordinator)
My name is Patrick and I am from Saskatoon. I go the University of Saskatchewan where I am currently in my fourth and final year of studying Political Studies. In my spare time I like to do anything involving film whether it be watching them or making them. I also enjoy writing especially about video games where I have actually had some of my work published in professional magazines. I used to wakeboard but my knees are borked and no longer function up to the necessary level of workingness. The only real job I have ever had was a janitor at a swimming pool, it taught me one very important lesson and that lesson is that the cake is a lie, never believe them when they promise you cake after work. The most interesting moment of my year thus far has to be the time I was walking downtown when me and my friends were threatened by a group of veterans who said and I quote "we will wreck your shit with man", it has since become my favourite catch phrase. So thats me in a nutshell minus the pajamas. It should also be noted that I enjoy letting my fingers frolic in my beard. (Note: As you can see Pat's beard has disappeared... will it be back? Only time will tell)
Wanna talk Nat Camp? Ya you do. To get in touch with Pat fire off an email to escarpment.blues@gmail.com


JBDCC (Junior Branch Development Committee Chair)
My name is Safiya Dhanani, I am 16 and I live in the gorgeous city of Vancouver! (I have to say I am quite pleased with the west coast representation this year) I have been in CISV since I was 11; First going to Lucknow, India for my village and then traveling to Cairo, Egypt for my summer camp! Locally, I am 'past chair' as of a couple o weeks ago!
I am an ex-competitive field hockey player. The 'ex' referring to my ANNOYING knee cap injury...which has put me out for the season. I love rock climbing and most outdoor things...building igloos and camping out in them in crazy snow conditions being a favorite as well! I really like coffee. No, let me rephrase, I love the smell of coffee but strangely I can't even manage to finish one cup. I like going for loooooonnnnnng runs especially in the rain. My favorite gadget is currently my ipod, it is very hard to find us apart! Currently my top played bands include; Feist, Phoenix, and Bloc Party. I speak mandarin (not fluently) and I sing a lot! Apart from daily shower singing I sing in 3 choirs. I am currently reading 'zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance' and am VERY JAZZED to be working with a very stellar and goodlookin, as someone mentioned, group of CISVers.
To get in touch with the JB Development Committee email Safiya at safiya.dhanani@gmail.com


The Communications Duo- they like speaking in point form.
The ICC (Internal Communications Chair)
-I'm Paula Wilson, but many a man call me PHW or, alternatively, Pdub which is slightly embarassing though catchy.
-I live in downtown Calgary, a block from Western Canada High School but manage to be late 4/5 days no matter what.
-I am also REALLY excited this year about the canuck and generally how everything with jb canada has shaped up to be.
-It's much easier for me to describe my ownself in point form, though occasionally I prefer the run-on paragraph.
-Last night I dreamed that I was Billy Ray Cyrus' daughter, one of 5, and we solved mysteries in the student parking lot of my school.
-Talking on skype makes me uncomfortable because I feel like Phil of the Future!
- I just got my last paycheck from Second Cup, where my favourite customer had no teeth and sat in the corner singing ballads quietly enough that he would not disturb anyone, but loud enough make sure we ALL knew he meant business.
- I'm notoriously terrible at math, though I do write a mean paper.
- I use words like notorious freely though I often do not know in what context they are appropriate.
- My favourite colour is seafoam green, and it may interest you to know I'm terribly afraid of water.
- My current project is writing a one act play with my friend for our January theatre class wherein a couple breaks up at a Karaoke Party because the wife thought her husband's favourite movie was Back to the Future, where it actually is the second Die Hard. It's entitled "Don't Go Breakin' My Heart", you're all invited.
- On that note, my favourite movie is the Big Lebowski.

The ECC (External Communications Chair)
- I am Jessica Mae Williams, "call me Bubbles everyone doesss".
- Jess is fine too.
- I live in Fredericton.
- I go to a real big girl school and I study Fine Arts-ish stuff + Archaeology and Literature
- I'm Seminar Camp Chair for my chapter.
- When I work it's at the Beaverbrook Art Gallery.
- I should be writing an Archaeology paper, but I like you more than carbon dating, but not more than dinosaurs.
- I applied for a new job today as coordinator for my University's Art Exhibition. Fingers crossed I get it.
- I just bought two fish, tetra and neon tetra. They're named Harold and Maude. They're on vacation right now at a friends house.
- I like movies A LOT. I thought about telling you my favorites but I'll just say that I like Shogun Assassin and I like you.
"There are many Jess' in the park, they grow tall and the children climb them. One day I will go there and chop all the Jess' down and burn them for heat and comic effect."
- My favorite colour is International Klein Blue. I don't realllly like blue I just like the idea of patenting a colour. Ownership, that's the stuff dreams are made of.

To communicate with the communications team you can email Paula at sweater.down@gmail.com or Jess at jesswilliams.0@gmail.com.
Canuck submissions can be sent to cisv.canuck@gmail.com

There's always room for a few more in the van, so JBers, let us know what you're thinking. We're always looking for input on where we should be headed so don't forget to drop us a line. See that add comments option? Us it! Or, feel free to email, write a letter, facebook stalk or send a carrier pigeon. You know where to find us, in our sweet CISV mini van.

Love love. K and K

Looking Back, Looking Forward

With the end of the year comes changes in JB Canada. The National Board Meeting in November was once again a time for JB chairs and board members from across Canada to come together to share experiences, work together, learn new things, see old friends and conduct important JB Canada business. This year was a especially exciting NBM since it was CISV Canada's 50th anniversary! (Read: Time to party). It was held in Waterloo, where it all started for CISV Canada and golden 50th anniversary decorations were never hard to find.



Our JB elections were also held at NBM. Stepping into the role of Jr. NJR is Kalenne Thors, which means Kathy Lewis is our new Sr. NJR! Our new National Camp Coordinator is Patrick Morin and our communications team members are Jess Williams- focusing on external- and Paula Wilson- keeping it groovy with internal. Finally Safiya Dhanani will be chairing the Junior Branch Development Committee. We have a great team together for the upcoming year, keep your eyes open for more information about them (including some pictures) coming up soon. Big BIG thanks to last years lovely exec members: Holly, Brittany, Kalenne and Emily. Also, mad props to all our wonderful JB chairs. You guys are all doing an fantastic job and your chapters are very lucky to have each of you.

With elections, it also means our dear friend Alex has finished his term as NJR. It's been an amazing two years that has seen the start of the Spring Board Training forum, a reorganization of the Junior executive and a lot of amazing powerpoint presentations. Thank you for all your hard work Alex and good luck with your new 'adult' position.

Until next time. xo Kathy and Kalenne

The Return of K&A!

Where, you ask, have Kathy and Alex been for the past while? Why hasn't there been a blog post in some weeks now? Well, we will answer that question but the following few photos should make it pretty clear: we've been working on our modeling career. That's right, Kathy and Alex, in addition to being NJRs are international professional supermodels and we travel the globe pouting our lips and breaking hearts.

Okay, that's not true. But we have been busy...and we can tell you all about it...

We got back from Colombia around the middle of August and not even two days later National Camp began. National Camp took place in Halifax, Nova Scotia this summer at a scouts camp called Camp Nadooae. National Camp, a program which brings together junior branchers of all ages from all over Canada, had a very diverse group this year. We had representatives from every single chapter and developing chapter of JB Canada. We could go on about National Camp and how much of a success it was, but why don't you take it from our participants...

I feel way more connected to JB Canada. I love how everyone shared stories about their chapters and the problems they are having. It is always comforting to know that you are not along and that other chapters are going through the same things.

After this camp I feel so inspired to take an active role in my JB and I’m glad.

I think I’ve seen my leadership and decision-making skills grow and become stronger. I’ve further discovered my strengths and weaknesses when I’m in a leadership role.

I was able to turn dissatisfaction into action!

Huge thanks must go out to the National Camp Coordinator Holly Norris--without her dedication and hard hard work, this camp would simply not have happened. Holly deserves a huge pat on the back and a dozen hip-hip hoorays and should feel very proud of the success of this camp! Thanks Holly.

That's all for now friends. Stay tuned to the CISV Canada website (www.cisv.ca) for National Camp photos and stay tuned to this channel for updates about...can you guess it?...that's right... NBM! The National Board Meeting is coming up in November in Waterloo and it's going to be huuuuuuge. So come back soon, you don't want to miss it.

Love from the east coast.
K&A

Closing time

Well friends,

The NJR adventure in Colombia is drawing to a close.

It has been a journey of late nights, long meetings and good friends. It's been an evolutionary, revolutionary time to be meeting with such fantiastic people from all around the world. JB was deconstructed, evaluated, attitude-checked, knowledge-juiced , and skill-tested.

As we think about our trip home and national camp set to being on tuesday (the 14th), and we are full of motivation and energy to bring back and share with you. We are looking forward to sharing some stories with participants from every chapter in Canada! And of course, hearing about all of your summer adventures.

We hope that all of you have learned, laughed, and smiled as much as the two of us have over the past couple of weeks. We will see some of you very soon, and wish everyone a sunny rest of the summer.

With love,

Kathy and Alex.

Congradulations to a wonderful friend.

Hello CISV Canada!

As you blog frequenters know, our very own Kelly Bowden was running for the posistion of international junior representative. We would like to inform you that Kelly was elected just moments ago, and we would like to give a huge shout out.

CONGRADULATIONS KELLY BOWDEN

IJR 2007-2009

We hope you are all having a wonderful day,

love from your NJRs,

kathy and alex.

21 vs 28 days

Live from the plenary! Alex and Kathy here with an update from the discussion about the 21 vs. 28 day village question. Right now, the board of trustees (the elected representatives from each country of CISV) are discussing how to respond to the research that was done about villages... On the table is a decision for the board to make... Here are some of the questions...

Should villages be 28 days?
Should villages be 21 days?
Should we keep both options?
Should we eliminate village and create a new program?
Should there be a further re-thinking process?
Should we put this decision off until later...?

A decision has to be made. What do you think? We'll pass the word along.

With love from the plenary.

Alex & Kathy

Deconstructing and Reconstructing IJBC

We know what you're wondering: Who the heck are those two girls in green?! I thought this was a blog about Kathy and Alex! Well don't worry, this still is the "NJR blog" but we wanted to be a little bit more inclusive and introduce a few of our Canadian friends who are here with us in Colombia. But who are these mysterious ladies in green and why are they important?

We'll tell you.

Erin (taller, holding the mug) comes from the Ottawa chapter. She enjoys reading Harry Potter, tall people and speaking in high pitched voices. Erin also enjoys deceiving CISV International; recently at IJBC, during an energizer Erin sarcastically explained that she had learned the energizer from J.K. Rowling who "was a leader at my village when I was eleven...before she was famous." Unfortunately, Erin's sarcasm is a little bit too sarcastic and some members of the international community here took her seriously.

Kelly (shorter, eating an apple) comes from the Fredericton chapter. She enjoys scarves, people who validate her good ideas, drinking coffee out of little mugs and deconstructing ideas. Kelly is also playing a very special role here at the International Junior Branch Conference (IJBC) and the Annual International Meeting (AIM). Kelly is a candidate for the position of International Junior Representative (IJR) which is a similar position to NJR but for the entire world of Junior Branch! Kelly is running in this election against Memo from Mexico and Ida from Sweden. The election takes place TODAY!

One thing that the IJRs (and the IJR candidates) do is to plan the International Junior Branch Conference. This conference is a meeting of JBers from all over the world. It is an opportunity for juniors to come together, share experiences, generate new ideas, gain skills and strengthen the fabric of Junior Branch around the world. This year, the IJBC focused especially on DECONSTRUCTING JB as well as JUNIOR BRANCH SELF-EVALUATION and also CREATIVITY.

Here's a question to ponder... Can any group of youth working toward the JB goals be considered a Junior Branch?

Want more to ponder? There is a document called the Final Packet which has summaries of all of the sessions from IJBC with detailed descriptions. If you're curious, e-mail us and we'll send it to you! (njr@ca.cisv.org)

With love from the plenary of the Annual International Meeting!

Alex & Kathy

Restructuring, new friends, and the occasional duck.

Kelly, Alex and Kathy bending over backwards, all for CISV Canada. (plus the view from our site)

Hello CISV Sportsfans!

Well, your NJR's are now in beautiful Paipa, meditating on some wonderful memories made at the Americas' Regional Members Meeting 2007. At the meeting, we had the highest number of countries to ever attend an ARM meeting. We had representatives from Honduras, Peru and Ecuador.

The meeting was filled with Latin music, creativity and forward thinking. There was also the occasional visiting animal inside the meeting room (we were staying in a sort of farmhouse. There were kittens) Australia came and was accepted into our region. The representative Chris then went promptly onto joining the ARM team.

It was a meeting of evolutionary proportions. The Americas region (in the past) always had 2 regional coordinators (recos) who coordinated growth and development in the americas, and worked with the two IJRs. The recos worked much like we (your njrs) do. There was a new one elected every year at ARMM and they each served a two-year term. But this year, we hit a snag. There were no accepted nominations for a new reco. As a result, we decided that we needed to seriously examine the leadership of our region.

After several incredible sessions, we all reached a consensus on a new structure for the organization. There will be a team of people working to help develop several nuclei throughout the americas. For example, the US and Canada would be a nucleus, as would central america, and JB South (south america). The team will be a team of JBers from all over the Americas who will help these nuclei to grow and develop. They will be facilitated by a Facilitator, who will have a two-year term.

The ARM team this year will be:
Maru Ayam (ARG)
Martin Rottler (USA)
Chris Settle (Australia!)
Raquel Garcia (BRA)
Meli Monge (CRC)
Juli Buritica (COL)
Mateo Velez (COL)
Pascual Mendez (GUA)
Facilitator: Maji Lozano (COL)

You can get into contact with them at armteam@ijb.cisv.org They would love to hear your thoughts, answer questions, and make new friends!

All in all, it was an outstanding experience. There are many plans in the works for development, and there will be many opportunities for you to
get on up, and get involved!
(cue James Brown music)
With love,

Kathy and Alex

p.s. check out the newest issue of IJB thinks at http://www.ijb.cisv.org/ (on the right-hand collumn)

We're here!

After weeks of trekking through the jungle, fending off a variety of wild animals and large insects, Kathy and Alex safely arrived in the breathtaking mountainscape of Bogotá. Okay, just kidding, we both flew here. But we did make it and we couldn't be happier...or more excited.

Our first adventure together was set at the infamous "Casa Lozano" (home of CISV Colombia superstars, Maji, Juanca and Luz Lozano). Maji was arriving home from a semester in Spain and the party was supposed to be a surprise. As Canadian NJRs we also got a surprise when we experienced the cultural difference that is a Colombian surprise party. While the two of us threw in our hats at 3 am, the fiesta reportedly raged until 6:30am. Shakira claims that her hips dont' lie. By the end of the night ours were quite sore.

For the past few days we have been staying together with a lovely family named the Barreras. Camila and Ade are both on the staff team for the Annual International Meeting (AIM) and though they have both been furiously busy, they have been the best hosts we could possibly have asked for. Sunday was dad Fernando's birthday party at which we appeared as special novelty guests. Hola, somos Alex y Kathy de Canadá.

As we draw closer and closer to the beginning of the international meetings more and more CISVers have been arriving in Bogotá. Last night we discovered just how many of us are already hanging out in this beautiful city. It's interesting to be in a city knowing that dozens of other CISVers (from dozens of different countries) are so nearby. What started out as a small gathering, at a very small bar, soon became a friendly take over where old an new friends connected over pitchers and a bossa nova band. By the end of the night there wasn't a soul in the bar who wasn't looking forward to the meetings ahead.

Tomorrow morning, we'll be getting up early. Really early. At 7:00 am we will be getting on a bus to the first of our three meetings. The Americas' Regional Members Meeting or ARMM brings together representatives from the 14 CISV countries in North, Central and South America. The meeting is organized and run by the regional coordiantors (Maji from Colombia and Nano from Costa Rica) along with a staff team of Colombians and Canada's own Erin Way! Interested in getting involved with Junior Branch work in the Americas? Stay tuned to find what projects ARM will be working on this year and drop us a line if any of it sounds cool to you! There will be LOTS of opportunities to get involved. Although it may just be the two of us here in Colombia, it is all of your guys that we are representing. We want to do our best to connect international JB projects with your skills, talents, and energy. Fo' real.

Curious about the above photo? We were lucky enough to drop into the national night of a Bogotá-Ottawa interchange and they asked us to help them out. They were reforming a Colombian-Canadian tribute to the Village People. We willingly obliged. Have you seen your NJRs (including potential future NJR Shaun from Ottawa) more excited? We doubt you have.

If you have any questions... comments...thoughts...whims about anything to do with these upcomming meetings (or about life in general), your very stylish NJRs are waiting with computers in lap. It's as easy as ... njr@ca.cisv.org

un beso desde Colombia!
Kathy & Alex

Come to Colombia with Kathy & Alex!

It's coming up fast... Kathy and Alex will be leaving in a few weeks for Colombia where they will be representing the juniors of Canada at three meetings: the Americas Regional Members Meeting (ARMM), the International Junior Branch Conference (IJBC) and the Annual International Meeting (AIM). That's a lot of meeting!

But we can't do it ourselves! We need you to be there with us and that's where the blog comes in. We are going to update this space regularly with the latest news, discoveries and gossip from the heart of the meetings!

Where do you come in? Well, if you'll notice below, there's a little button that says COMMENT... That's where you do a little bit of clicking and a little bit of typing and leave us your thoughts, greetings, suggestions, poetry, or whatever you please!

Won't you please come along with us?

Love. Kathy & Alex