{mosimage}Hawthorn School for Girls sent its first team of students to Peru over the March break to get their hands dirty and learn about partnering with the locals.

The Toronto independent school’s trip was inspired by a presentation given by alumnus Kristina Douros last year, then a 24-year-old student at the University of Western Ontario who spent nearly four months in 2008 volunteering with Condoray, a 47-year-old rural development project.

Condoray, a  training centre devoted to human, social and religious development and promotion of women in the Cañete Valley of southern Peru, is a centre for higher learning where villagers can learn how to be “promoters” of growth and improvement and then implement these in their own communities. The spiritual and religious activities of Condoray are overseen by the Prelature of Opus Dei.

“The remarkable aspect of Condoray is that it is run by Peruvian women for Peruvian women,” Douros said. “These women know the needs of the people, they have lived it and are still living it. The leaders live in the communities and many of their children are very involved.”

The issues targeted are not projected by outsiders who do not fully understand the situation and this is why Condoray is so successful, Douros added.

Canada’s capital will play host to its first Youth Summit this month, taking the torch from Quebec City which started hosting the youth gatherings in 2005.

The bilingual event in Ottawa May 21-24 promises to draw up to 500 young adults, ages 17-35, who will participate in activities and events centred around the theme “Sent!”

According to organizers, the theme is meant to bring participants to reflect on their personal role “as missionaries in today’s Church, particularly amidst other young adults.”

MARKHAM, Ont. - Catholic youth leadership is alive and well in the archdiocese of Toronto.

The Office of Catholic Youth’s yearly banquet highlighted Catholic leadership, and gave a video look into the lives of six phenomenal young leaders from parishes throughout the archdiocese to the record crowd of 550.

{mosimage}TORONTO - When the theme for this year’s annual Catholic youth banquet was announced a year ago, Abigail Iseyemi, 17, said she started thinking right away about what she would wear. Although born in Canada, Iseyemi appreciates her parent’s Nigerian traditions and was eager to share that with other young Catholics.

TORONTO - With a new face for its annual “Faith Day,” Dante Alighieri Academy in Toronto gave students a taste of the Gospel with a hip-hop beat.

{mosimage}TORONTO - The Redemptorists have made a home for themselves in downtown Toronto — a location ideal for the many youth projects they lead on poverty and justice.

{mosimage}BRAMPTON, Ont. - After seeing firsthand the barriers to education that many children face abroad, 19-year-old Daniel Francavilla decided to do something.

Two years have passed since he travelled to the Dominican Republic on a high school exposure trip, but he has since established a student-run non-profit organization, raised $20,000 and sent a few large shipments of supplies to help children attend school in three different countries.

{mosimage}There’s a new youth evangelization training program springing up out of Manitoba. The organizers, who are still accepting applications for the fall, said it includes components that liken it to other evangelization ministries like Catholic Christian Outreach and National Evangelization Team (NET) Ministries, but with distinct elements.

“It’s a bit different in that the team will see what goes into the part of a youth minister,” said organizer Jude Gosselin. “People who’ve been on the team will have seen all the aspects of it and will be hireable as youth ministers.”

{mosimage}TORONTO - When his godmother gave him a gift of $300 for his Confirmation last year, Andrew Chown, 14, had a mission: find a worthy cause and pay it forward.

 

{mosimage}TORONTO - With his back to the congregation, waving his arms to keep the choir synchronized, it’s difficult to tell that Matthew Otto is merely 22. More surprising is the fact he is also the director of music, overseeing musicians for all the Masses at the Newman Centre’s St. Thomas Aquinas Church.