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On this page, you'll find stories of Youth Network members' group and individual accomplishments and struggles. Do you have a story to share with the Youth Network? Email Chloé Raxlen at craxlen [at] ccrweb [dot] ca.

BANA TINSHEOM-TORONTO  

My name is Bana Tinsheom. I was born in June 13th, 1992. I came to Canada in April 2011. Currently I am a grade 12 high school student looking forward to go to university. I am one of the starting members of the FCJ Youth Network. Since the time in which the youth group was created I have been working so hard in making the group bigger and bigger by bringing in new youth to the group and working on making everybody feel welcome. I like talking to people share my experiences and ideas and also listen to theirs.

SARA EFTEKAR-VANCOUVER.

Sara Eftekhar, 23, is a fourth year Nursing student at UBC who is widely recognised as a volunteer and activist. A recipient of the Outstanding Youth Award from the Mayor of North Vancouver and top 75 Immigrants of Canada Award, Sara has volunteered in nine countries around the world, worked on a health project in an Aboriginal community and represented Canada at the United Nations University and international youth conferences. Sara was awarded a prestigious fellowship from Tony Blair and worked on parliament Hill in Ottawa as the only youth for global health. She was honored by Princess Astrid of Belgium for her global health efforts. She volunteers in the Downtown Eastside in addition to being the executive Director and co-founder of Civic Iranian-Canadian Youth Committee. She is one of the top graduating students of 2013 at the Faculty of Applied science at UBC and she is one of the top five finalists in all of UBC grads as “student most likely to change the world.” She has been featured in many media outlets and recently she spoke at the Canadian Iranian Foundation International Women’s Day event as one of the most successful women BC

Munira Abukar, Toronto

Munira Abukar was born and raised within the walls of Toronto Community Housing. “It’s an overall great community,” she says. However “growing up in an underprivileged neighbourhood, you face extreme discrimination. I really do love my community and it is great to be a builder in this large structure of unity.”  The daughter of Somali immigrants, Munira finds passion not in herself, but in the strength of others: her parents, her older siblings and her Toronto community. “It is with their support that I have the passion to do what I love: giving back.” Learn more

Taro Hashimoto, Edmonton

Taro Hashimoto currently works with an aboriginal arts organization in Edmonton, Alberta and has been working with refugee youth in various community programs for the past 8 years.  He is connected to several local and regional committees and initiatives working for the success and well-being of refugee and immigrant youth, as well as all youth in the community. Learn more

Andrew Saa Gbongbor, Fredericton

Andrew S. Gbongbor (commonly known as Saa Andrew) is a Youth Facilitator at the Multicultural Association of Fredericton and a recent university graduate, having arrived as a refugee from Sierra Leone in 2004. He has seen many changes since then – having to find his own way as a newly-arrived refugee youth. Saa Andrew has a passion for sharing his own experience with others to “help them find their way. I know what they are going through.” Learn more

Daniet Kidane, Edmonton

Daniet Kidane is a twenty-year-old university student in Edmonton, Alberta.   She volunteers with many groups in Edmonton and is an active member of the CCR Youth Network.  Daniet and her family were deported from Ethiopia to Eritrea in 1998, during the Eritrea-Ethiopian War. They escaped the turmoil, sought refuge in Kenya, and were then sponsored to come to Canada in 2005. Learn more

Faiza Hargaaya, Winnipeg

Faiza Hargaaya is a busy person. Currently the Assistant Coordinator for after-school programs at the Immigrant and Refugee Community Organization of Manitoba (IRCOM), Faiza is also a Winnipeg activist, an IRCOM ambassador and a spoken-word artist. Though IRCOM is a home for more than 60 refugee and immigrant families, it also provides community resource programs. Learn more