Renfrew-Collingwood Community News

News stories from the Renfrew-Collingwood community in East Vancouver

Tag Archives: Collingwood Neighbourhood House


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New health and physical activity project moves residents

BY ESTHER YUEN

Renfrew-Collingwood community organizations and the University of B.C. Kinesiology Department partnered earlier this year to launch the Renfrew-Collingwood Interculturalism, Health and Physical Activity Initiative. The goal of this project is to promote interculturalism, defined as curiosity about people different from ourselves and a willingness to connect, through physical activity to increase social-connectedness, health and well-being in the community.

Residents of the Renfrew-Collingwood neighbourhood are encouraged to participate in events associated with this initiative and are invited to share their learning experiences. This initiative is expected to continue indefinitely, but is also expected to launch and support other related projects and programs in the neighbourhood.

To support the project, diverse teams made up of Renfrew-Collingwood community leaders have been or are in the process of being established. The steering circle, responsible for giving direction to this initiative, consists of representatives from Collingwood Community Policing, Vancouver Coastal Health, Windermere Family of Schools, Collingwood Neighbourhood House, Renfrew Park Community Centre, UBC and Collingwood Business Improvement Association. The Intercultural Communicators Circle disseminates stories and information, and the Intercultural Connectors Circle, once formed, will reach out to groups that are identified as low-participatory groups.

UBC faculty, staff and students will be working alongside the three circles as well as Renfrew-Collingwood residents or groups who are or will be involved in intercultural physical activities. Led by Dr. Wendy Frisby, the UBC group will act as an academic resource to the community and assist the community in documenting the project. Their aim is to build capacity around the neighbourhood and, in the process, gain insight into real-life community development.

Between now and December 2013, all three circles and UBC representatives will work together to identify existing skills and to learn new skills, create a regularly updated map of intercultural physical activities in the community, promote and communicate about the initiative and document and review the project process.

Residents of the Renfrew-Collingwood neighbourhood should contact Paula Carr at pcarr@cnh.bc.ca if they have questions or are able to contribute to the map or organize events and programs that promote community and intercultural physical activity. The Intercultural Communications Circle is also actively looking for motivational stories from community members that give insight into stories about community-based physical health initiatives.

Copyright (c) 2013 Renfrew-Collingwood Community News


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Canadian seniors bring joy to CASI volunteer

BY AKBERET S. BEYENE

When I first decided to volunteer at the Community Action for Seniors Independence (CASI) program, I had no idea yet what it was about. I was just happy for the opportunity to be of service to the elderly, something that I have always enjoyed. So I started with much enthusiasm, hoping that my past experiences in this field would be helpful.

I was born and raised in Eritrea, East Africa. I had worked with the elderly, especially women, during the Ethiopian occupation of Eritrea. As a result, I gained much work experience, having been part of various community activities. It brought much joy into my life. Based on this I knew that I might like to be involved in the CASI program.

Previously I have written about my first CASI experience (“Newcomer finds family through seniors program,” December 2012 issue of the RCC News) with the most wonderful Cathy F. Shortly thereafter I met several seniors, among them the two lovely people, Ken and Ann, and a lovely woman Nel.

Anna and Ken are a couple that I visit once a week. They live together in a house in east Vancouver, having been married for 66 years.

It’s really a blessing finding a couple where both are and have been companions, partners and best friends for so many years. Over the years they raised eight children with much sacrifice.

Besides being a mom to her four daughters and four boys, Mrs. Anna also worked in a hospital, which added to an already hectic schedule. I recall one of our friendly chats during which Mrs. Anna shared with me that many nights she was only able to get to bed at 2 am, after having worked to support her family. I bet that was very difficult, especially at a time when many chores were done by hand, compared to nowadays when technology has made many tasks so much easier, for example in the kitchen.

Still to this day Anna is always a “busy bee.” I never see her idle. Every day, for her, is a new chance to prepare food or cookies for her large family, with so many birthdays and holidays to celebrate. I sometimes catch myself thinking how lucky her family must feel to have her in their lives.

Anna’s husband Ken is an avid reader, and every Friday, without fail, I find him reading a book in his favourite place at the kitchen table, with his breakfast close by. When I greet him with “good morning,” he briefly responds with a smile and tells me to help myself to coffee. And then he resumes his reading without much delay.

Ken is always ready to lend a hand, especially when the vacuum cleaner is not working. I remember a funny incident last summer, when we had to exchange the vacuum cleaner four times over the period of several weeks, because they were not working properly. One Friday morning I showed up as usual, wearing a new yellow jacket that I received the day before as a gift, and surprise! Ken had bought a yellow colour vacuum, same colour as my jacket. This one has lasted for a while now.

Ann and Ken are very proud and hard-working seniors. They complement each other with harmony. Knowing them has enriched my life immeasurably. I will never forget how they took a great interest in my refugee application process, marking their calendars with my hearing dates and blessing me with their prayers. I feel very lucky to have such big-hearted people around me.

Another wonderful person I met through CASI is Nel. She is originally from Holland. Nel and her husband immigrated to Canada in 1957. At that time, she was very young, barely in her twenties and already a mother of two beautiful girls. In 1968, her husband died and she became a young widow, raising her daughters by herself with courage and strength and working tough jobs. She told me that she is very proud of everything she has done.

On one of my visits, Nel told me how she fell in love a second time, with a wonderful man. Within a few months of meeting they decided to get married in Hawaii. Nel warmly recalled, smiling, that she then experienced the best 20 years of love in her life, until she became a widow for the second time in 2009.

She confided in me how, at first, she felt lonely, but then soon refused to be a hostage to her grief any longer, and decided to be active in her community at Trout Lake Centre. Today she is lovingly known as “Oma” in her neighbourhood, feeling happy and no longer alone in her neighbourhood.

In Nel I met a great lady who fights the emptiness of widowed life with great determination.

On my first visit to her home she welcomed me very warmly, which made me very much at ease. From the first moment I felt that we would become good friends.

Once, as I was dusting the furniture in the living room, I heard a beautiful voice that whistled a beautiful song. At first I thought that the sound was coming from a recorder, and slowly walked toward the kitchen to find out. I was astonished when I saw that it was Nel who was whistling! Her talent amazes me. I did not hesitate to ask her if she was a singer. She answered me with a passionate smile that she sings in choir of her church and she keeps practising between the church services.

Finally I would like to express my gratitude for the CASI program that allowed me to meet people with a big heart, and with whom I’ve created deep friendships. They understand the profound feeling of loss that we, as refugees, feel when we leave our beloved family and home, and they also have a sense of what it is like to be in a new environment, having to establish a new life from scratch.

Joining the CASI program gave me the opportunity to become familiar and interact with Canadian families, warming up my everyday life, as well as my heart and soul.

Akberet S. Beyene is a housekeeper with the CASI program for seniors that is based out of Collingwood Neighbourhood House.

Copyright (c) 2013 Renfrew-Collingwood Community News


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Go out and play

Focus on fun and basic skills the key to staying active

BY SOREN ELSAY

Less time exercising thumbs, more time running around: that’s what today’s youth need, according to Michael McLenaghen. With a successful professional soccer career, including eight international games for the Canadian Men’s National team behind him, McLenaghen is now the director of community services at the Collingwood Neighbourhood House where he oversees numerous sports-related activities for the children of the area.

“Young people are spending way too much time online, watching television and staying inside,” states McLenaghen.

His claims are not without reason. A recent Health Canada study showed that more than 30 percent of Canadian kids ages five to 17 were overweight, nearly double the average 30 years ago. Much of this has to do with kids not being physically active enough. Statistics Canada research shows that children spend on average almost nine hours a day being inactive, which equates to about 62 percent of their waking hours. A shift in the way we present and promote physical activity, particularly sport, is desperately needed. The man with a vision for this change is Mike McLenaghen.

For McLenaghen, the problem starts when kids are first enrolled into sports and recreation by their parents, usually around age five or six. He believes that kids should not be placed in teams and pitted against each other until age nine at least; instead we should be focusing on fun and the basics like developing ball skills.

“I think that young people need to be channelled into recreation and sporting activities where they learn basic movement skills,” says McLenaghen.

These basic skills include hand-eye coordination, jumping, kicking and rolling, and, according to McLenaghen, are best developed through a range of activities anywhere from gymnastics and dance to simple games such as kick the can and tag.

“From there you can channel kids into various sports such as hockey, soccer, baseball, but again the emphasis needs to be on their relation with the ball, the stick and puck or whatever it may be,” McLenaghen explains.

When we get away from fun and basics and incorporate competition and a lot of structure too early, or as McLenaghen put it, “channeling kids into adult models of sport,” we start running into the problem of kids quitting. McLenaghen points out that 60 percent of boys and girls who started playing sports at age five or six have quit by the time they are 14 years old.

“There is too much pressure, too much emphasis on competition, uniforms, trophies. Not enough emphasis on kids having fun, being creative and developing skills,” says McLenaghen. “Because if kids feel like they are going from [one level of skill to the next], and they keep progressing and getting better, they’re not going to quit. Kids don’t quit things that they get better at.”

McLenaghen also points out that some of the most beneficial activities that kids participate in are not organized by adults at all. For example, impromptu games of tag or pick-up basketball with friends allow them to use their own initiative and creativity as well as stay active.

“The value of unstructured play, I can’t over-emphasize that enough,” states McLeneghan. “It doesn’t need to come down to structured, organized recreation and sport activity all the time, and I think it’s a huge problem as well. We are structuring kids to death, and they get fed up with it.”

With new technology seemingly coming out daily, staying inside and playing with new gadgets is as tempting as ever. For McLenaghen’s vision to become a reality, parents, community leaders and children themselves must be proactive (see Mike’s Tips below). With a bit of help, McLenaghen hopes that youth will want to get up and, as every mom used to say, “Go out and play.”

Mike’s Tips for Parents to Get Their Kids Active

  1. Do research: Finding the right situation and people is crucial. “Make the effort to go out and find not just good coaches in sport, but good leaders and good teachers.”
  2. Set limits: Parents should closely monitor how much time their children are spending online. “TV, iPhones, iPads, computers, all of it. [Parents] need to be tough, set clear boundaries for the kids.”
  3. After-school programs: 3:00 to 5:00 pm is a key time for keeping kids active because this is the time usually that kids are getting off school but parents are still at work. “[The children] go home, they are [roughly] 12 years old, and they do whatever, play video games and those kinds of things. It’s not that you have to have all of the[children’s] time structured, but at times like after school they need some support, and it needs to be quality support.”
  4. Check out local programs that provide a safe place for kids to be active: “Collingwood Neighbourhood House provides great gymnastics and dance programs for children right down from two years old all the way up to 12 years old. As well as a number of sport activities like soccer, basketball, floor hockey.”

 Soren Elsay is a Langara student and an aspiring journalist.

© Copyright (c) 2012 Renfrew-Collingwood Community News