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A8-The Canadian Champion, Tuesday, December 26, 2006 COMMUNITY Ukraine tnip en1lightening and enriching Yo ut h group brings message of hope tofellow teenagers By Stephanie Thiessen CANADIAN CHAMPION STAFF T cinage prcgnancy Altoholisn. istcide.Ahuse. Drugs. Volence. These arc just ai kw of the vtry real soci- cial plighîts a gi (101 of yotîng people frorn Southsidc C ommnunitx thurth îravt led to . ~ Uikraine t) hclpit fght îgaunsi. i heit wec iniany messaiges tht grouppof Milionians xs inicdtihidc lis t to ilic LJI'rainian s oung people' But thtetes of' oun1cmssaigcstock ont i iRchclkahiazris inidimne and again. -Alterillcing iherc, Idclhave to sa> îhc kecy t hng to address is licnng y ouths knoss the>' have worth anti saluc,- saidt he 25 yt'ar-olti umnvcrsity stutient, one o!ithe leatders on thi' ' Fifteen teens and young adcîlts ranging in age froin 1i5 Lo 26 imade the trip rom Novemher 17 10 26. Thc students The Champiorn spoke with unanimously said they' d gained just as much as they'd gven during the trip, whîch they ail agreed they d rememher for a lifetime. I came away from the trip very changed," Lazarskî said. ifteen-year-oid Josh Martin, a student at Milton Dstrict High Schooi, agreed. "We're more grateful for what we have now,' he said. For the nine days the Soutnsîcle group was there, they visited Ukraînian schoois and gave interactive presentations con- fronttng the needs of at-risk youth. They spoke ahout the importance of pro- tecting their hodies, investing in their futures and finding something to helieve in. The message was conveyed through live music, drama, hi-tech media and personai life stories - a formnat tliey could relate 10, Lazarski said. After the presentations, the young people wouid îalk one-on-one with tome of the stu- dents and invite them 10o an end-of-the week party in Kiev, which drew an impressive crowd of 700. "We're not just ahout performing dramas, we're ahout making connections," Lazarski said. The Miltonians partnered with a group called Glohal 180 Student Communications, which ams to help young people achieve personal suecess through charaeter develop- GRAHAM PAINt / CANADIAN CHAMPION GLOBETROTTERS: Ukraine trip participants (from ieft) Rebekah Lazarski, Quinn Ward, Cole Madansky, Josh Martin, Andrese Dempster, Lînsey Pelkey and Joel Bakker display some of the souvenirs from their recent excursion. ment and healthy life choîces. lî's a Christian group, hut as Lazarski explained, their Joh wasn't to preach hut rather to love. "We as Christians want to practically impact our world and allow people 10 know they have worth and value," she saîd. This isn't the first time Lazarski has heen t0 Ukraine. She aise> went in 2003 for a sim- ilar purpose, and said shes wanted 10 returu for the past three years. "For almost four years Ive heen longing 10 get hack," she said. It was on her hirst tnip that Lazarski met two trouhled girls who îouched her heart. They were deeply affected hy the message the 2003 team hrought, she said, and she stayed in touch with them. They were a big part of the reason she returned, Lazarski said, and she was ahle 10 spend more time wîth them and see how they had changed their lives around. Coînmunicating wasn't as dificuit as you might think, Lazarski said, since most of the teens spoke tome English and they had translators on hand. The cost of the trip was a staggening $42,000, which the Southside group rhised thanks t0 donations from familues and frîends, and vanious fundraisers. Josh Martin said it wasn't difficuit to relate t0 the students in Ukraine, and that he enjoyed talking one-on-one with them, It gave him a different perspective on fle, he said. "With them, if they wanî Ici huy somne- thing new for themselves, sometiînes they won't buy food for a day" He said he now thinks twice before huy- ing things he doesn't really need. For someone who's neyer heen outside North America, the trip was educational as well as fun. "The culture there is so much more relaxed," Josh said. "Here, we're so uptight and concemned with making money and gel- ting things fast." Sixteen-year-old Quinn Ward, alto a stu- dent at Milton District, said there were some challenges to the trip - such as not gettîng much sleep - but overaîl il was ver rewarding. It was a really good experience. 1Iclamed a lot." Stephanie Thiessen can be reached at sthiessenC-miltoncanadianchampion.com. 11uly Local lèlevision www.cogeco.ca NORTH HALTON STUDIO Dec 1,20 11 i5am 1titpmPluiDed !,'i EIra Deci8, 2m 1.14M -ruçwmm ioucmcecii Dec 1t.,2W t:0p 9.0miLtî Piciied In! ixira ru>c ecN 21, M~ci ccl 1 00am - u0pm PIgged 5litcxtr 1:11p. - 211N1pm Kaniccf l Cciocii Dec 20,DW@ 3,0ipm - l0it0m Plugged 19'Exta 11 00am -lWpm Pliiid 1'InEIra l0a i(m -îiiiîmrPlugged (ni (ce Laurier Plaza 500 Laurier Avenue Milton, ON L9T 4R3 905-878-9306 ~CC(',(Y' (Cogeco Cable Channe 14Prn l-ia[en>o-'d" f.tm ?l Sunday, DÏýem4r 31