On December 13, 2002, the South Asian Women's Community Centre (SAWCC) held a huge party to celebrate one year of having a youth program. The event was a huge success with dozens of youth participating and hip hop and bhangra music playing all night



In the fall of 2001, the youth program was inititiated by the South Asian Women's Community Centre as it was noted that a needs exists for South Asian youth growing up in the diaspora.

For South Asian youth, living in Quebec poses many challenges. Not only exists a generational gap between youth and their parents, but often South Asian youth face the reality of living between two cultures and two or more languages - that of their Quebecois peers and that of their families. This added dimension can sometimes cause much stress when facing the issues that today's youth must handle, including racism, sexism, questions of identity and sexual orientation, poverty, family and street violence, making decisions related to education and career, etc. At the South Asian Women's Community Centre, we aim to create a safe space in which youth may discuss these issues, with an understanding of their realities inside and outside the home. In order to meet this specific need, we developed the youth program, in which youth meet on a regular basis to discuss and act-upon their needs in a supportive peer setting, facilitated by a qualified staff member.



Some past activities of the youth program have included discussions around important issues such as racism in violence against women, queer film nights, a samosa-making workshop, non-traditional skills building, and projects around artistic self-expression and empowerment. Our open house night in September 2002, which launched many projects and celebrated South Asian women's political activism, attracted nearly 30 young people.



Watch for many events to come in the New Year! We will have a new series called Project Rise-Up - workshops geared towards giving women the tools to claim their right as full and equal actors in building a dynamic society. Amongst the workshops, there will be several dedicated to popular theatre, two on labour organizing, and one on designing a web page. As well, we are participating in building a large youth Race and Equity conference on the weekend of January 18 and 19 at McGill University, along with QPIRG, the Black Students Network, Fire Women and Trans of Colour Collective (for details go to http://ssmu.mcgill.ca/qpirg/race2003/).



Want to get a complete schedule of events or get involved? Have ideas or want to volunteer?

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