Canada seems to be at a thousand miles from Benin, a small country of the sub-Saharan Africa. When we take the time to take a look a the people living in this country that seems so different, we realize that there is some similarities, that we share the same concerns. This is what the youths involved in these cultural exchanges, organized by Canada World Youth and with the financial support of the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), discover.

"In Benin, people asked me if it was true that Canadians tought that Beninese lived in huts made of mud and that they were dying of hunger. I had no choice but to tell them that, in fact, this is what Canadians tought. On the other hand, Beninese have been surprised to learn that the Canada also encouters difficulties regarding public transport or school reforms. They believed that the Canada was a country with no problems at all", says Rachel Benoît, who supervised many projects of Canada World Youth in many countries, such as Benin.

With its exchange programs, Canada World Youth allows youths from almost anywhere around the world to live an enriching experience with young Canadians of their age. The objective of these exchanges is to allow the youths to discover a new culture by getting over the clichés, by developing an open-mind while improving their leadership.

From  -20 °C to a blazing sun
In 2001-2002, Rachel has supervised the Canada-Benin exchange program. Sixteen youths aged from 17 to 24 have participated to this adventure. Eight of them were Beninese and the other eight were Canadian. Only two of them were from Quebec.

"The adventure began in Victoriaville. Each Beninese was paired to a Canadian counterpart. They were going to live together in an host family from Victoriaville for 3 ½ months. On a stormy night, when the temperature was at -20 °C, we left for another 3 ½ months. We were flying to Allada, a town of 70 000 inhabitants, which is located at about 50 km of Cotonou, the economic capital of Benin", remembers Rachel.

Enriching exchanges
While living in these families, the participants of the Canada World Youth programs have the time to discover a new culture. In Benin, the young Canadians have been surprised to discover such cultural richness and diversity. "In fact, in Benin, people don’t speak the same language and, even if the country is Animist (voodoo), there is also Muslims and Christians. The youths had to learn all this. They have also discovered that voodoo was far more than just a doll thing", reminds Rachel, who has participated in a Canada World Youth cultural exchange program when she was younger.

With these programs, the participants get the chance to discover a new country and they live an enriching and cultural experience in their own country. "We try to choose youths coming from various social classes. During the project, the youths do volunteering, but they also receive pocket money and they have to live in their designated host family. This way, we make sure that they all live the same thing. This is also an exchange between different social classes", says Rachel.

Discover various themes
While working on the various themes related to the society where they live, the youths discover the culture of their host country and they develop leadership. The themes they explore are as various as arts, local economy, government, environment and architecture. Teamed with his Beninese couterpart, the Canadian has to do a research on a theme of his choice and he has to organize activities related to the reality of the host country’s life.

This way, the youths discover, for example, that in Victoriaville, as well as in Allada, there are problems related to public transport and recycling. Of course, as Rachel explains, the governmental strategies used to solve these problems are not the same since the economic substance is not the same. On the other hand, the concerns remains the same.

A major experience
In Benin, Canada World Youth works in collaboration with the Youth, Sports and Leisure ministry. The latter considers that it is essential to invest for the youths via these cultural exchanges. "There is a bad unemployment problem in Benin. The government has decided to invest money in such programs because it believes that it is a good opportunity to develop the youths’ leadership and their entrepreneurial thinking, increasing, in the same time, their employability", says Rachel.

Canada World Youth has recently done an analysis of the impact that its projects had in Benin. "We have gathered 74 youths who have participated in the program since 1993. The comment that was the most recurrent was the fact that these youths gained self-confidence, that they have developed an open mind and leadership. Even after many years, these acquisitions stay. Moreover, most of these Beninese were working, which is not immaterial! In addition, the participants have been interpellated by the volunteering in their community", mentions Rachel, who is now the educational and evaluation coordinator.

Canada World Youth is active in almost 30 African, Asian and Latin American countries. Moreover, there is other cultural exchanges happening in the Antilles and in Central and Eastern Europe. Since 1971, it is more than 27 000 youths who have participated in one of these programs.