After three weeks of intensive training at T’Sou-ke First Nation, a group of ten Indigenous interns from across Canada is doing human rights work in Africa.

One of the interns, Jaxxen Wiley, is of Stz’uminus descent and works with youth at Tillicum Lelum Aboriginal Friendship Centre in Nanaimo. He answered these questions via email from Uganda:

Tell me about your experiences in the internship program so far – what have you been doing?
I am living in a village in rural Uganda and have been getting used to the lifestyle there. My position involves community outreach mainly for sports and recreation and so I have been spending time with the teachers of Arise and Shine school going over what we will be doing. We are setting up a soccer tournament between local villages, and starting up an after-school sports club for girls and boys.

Why did you want to get involved?
I have wanted to work in Africa for a long while, something has just always drawn me there. It worked out great that I was able to land a position relevant to what I currently do. I work doing outreach at Tillicum Lelum and study criminology in university. It is cool to gain experience doing something like this internship.

What have been some of your successes and some of the challenges?
Most of the challenges come from adjusting to a totally different lifestyle than I’m used to in Canada. In the village we live in traditional huts and have no access to electricity or running water. Also, not having the same understanding of the social cues can lead to some confusion. The best thing is just to keep an open mind and be able to laugh at yourself.

What do you hope to gain from this program that you can bring back to your community?
I think an appreciation and understanding for the high standard of living we are given in Canada is important. I hope to bring back a new perspective gained from this experience to my community. It helps to have multiple different views when looking at an issue so I hope this can give me new insight.

Is there anything else you would like to say about your experiences in the program?
I just think it’s awesome that there are opportunities like this internship for youth – particularly Aboriginal youth – to go through such a great experience. There is a lot that can be learned from internship positions and gaining experience, and the fact that there are choices like going to Uganda to do community outreach is pretty good for inspiring youth to see what options there are to do some good work.

Jaxxen and other interns departed to Uganda and Zambia in late summer where they are working in various areas including gender and youth-based efforts.

It is one of several efforts by the Victoria International Development Education Association (VIDEA) to provide development, education and support overseas.

VIDEA program director Rohan Stritch said the association wanted to work with T’Sou-ke so that interns could witness its “inspirational community development work” while being trained.

“The experience of working together with T’Sou-ke Nation has been rich for all involved,” Stritch said. “T’Sou-ke Nation is well known for being innovators in renewable energy, indigenous food propagation and leaders in environmentally sustainable community development.”