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New Lowell Family Hosts CWY Participants B y J eanetie Caner With the return of the Canadian par- ticipants to Canada. another year of Canada World Youth (CWY) exchan- ges has drawn to a close. For the last nineteen years the Canada World Youth program has been in operation and has given hundreds of youths from Canada and around the world the chance at an experience of a lifetime. The duration of the exchange is between six and seven months - participants spending half the time with a host family in Canada, and the other half with a host family in a Third World country: Par- ticipants are given the opportunity to live and work in different communities, gaining an understanding of com- munity and farrn life in an area - one of the primary goals of CWY. Having had the good fortune ‘of being a Canadian host mother, it is With fond memories of my experience that I write this article. My family was one of seven in the CreemoreStayner area Roxanne Linmurr (left) and OI'uphan Waflanu (right) are pictured above helping out on the dain'flrt'm ufflwt'r llnslfamily in New Lowell. Ontario. asked to participate in the program With some apprehension and reserva: tion. we agreed. Opening my home and lifestyle to two young people. one of whom spoke virtually no English, made me wonder if I had lost my senses. Bur an eagerness to learn. a willingness to help. and the exceptionally good al- titudes of the participants soon brought my senses back. To help integrate the participants into their host families. they were placed in a home in pairs; Roxanne Lincoan a French Canadian from Quebec. and Oraphan Wattana. from Suhkolhai in Thailand, stayed in our home. Roxanne spoke very good English. and at the end of the three months Oraphan also did very well with the English language. The main objective of this exchange for the participants from Thailand W3) to learn about Canadian agriculture. specifically dairy farming Their secon- dary objective was to learn about Canadian culture. And for the Canadians. it was to learn more about Canadian culture. and develop an awareness of the rest of our vast country, as well as learn about the cul- ture of the Thai people. And two pain of extra hands to help out on a datn farm was certainly welcomed. Our ultimate reward of the whole program. however. was to have l\\'tt youths think of my husband and l as their Ontario Mom and Dad. What’s Happening with WSA â€" Winchester By Dawn Rut-malls Our involvement in the Agriculture in the Classroom program led to par- ticipation by two members in the first regional AITC Conference held in Cornwall in October. |990. And mem- bers remain active on our Tri-County AITC Committee. After a dynamic six year term as President of WSA-Winchestcr. Dorothy Middleton has stepped down. She is now a Policy Analyst with the Farm Women‘s Bureau of Agriculture Canada and is still working on behalfof fami women. WSA-Winchestcr co-ordinated another successful series of continuing education courses for farm and rural women. The series. entitled "Rural and Farm Life in the ‘90's,” was held once a week for seven weeks this past winter. As usual. the subjects presented were diverse. topical. practical and interest- ing. They included: energy conserva- tion. landscaping, intensive grazing management. homeopathy. the GST. |99l farm income forecasts. the 1991 census, calf care. the environment. and food trends. The final days cratt demonstration and dict-defying pot luck lunch were a big success. We are in the process ofupdatlngpul brochure and are eagerly looking lot-V ward to the completion of the history til the WSA this year. This will be a satt~~ fying accomplishment! Dawn lenallr [r the new Prat-[dent nt Women for the Survival of Agrirttltttrt' â€" Winchester. _â€"§â€"____/ 4 H S: C March. April, May 19‘)!