Updated Staff Page with Contact Information
Did you know that the Cowichan Intercultural Society has over 20 staff members? Check out our staff page to learn more about our staff members, their titles & roles, and how to contact them directly.
Happy Thanksgiving – Office Closed October 9th
The Cowichan Intercultural Society would like to wish everyone a very happy Thanksgiving weekend. Thanksgiving celebrates the harvest and other blessings of the past year. We hope you are able to celebrate the day with good friends & family, tasty food, and much joy and laughter.
Our office will be closed on Monday, October 9th, so our staff can enjoy the holiday with their loved ones, and we look forward to re-opening tomorrow, October 10 at 9am.
“Thanksgiving has been officially celebrated as an annual holiday in Canada since November 6, 1879, when parliament passed a law designating a national day of thanksgiving. While the actual Thanksgiving holiday is on a Monday, Canadians may gather for their Thanksgiving feast on any day during the long weekend. Foods traditionally served at Thanksgiving include roasted turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes with gravy, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, sweet corn, various autumn vegetables (mainly various kinds of squashes but also Brussels sprouts), and pumpkin pie. Baked ham and apple pie are also fairly common, and various regional dishes and desserts may also be served, including salmon, wild game, butter tarts, and Nanaimo bars.” (wikipedia)
Help Us Win $100k For a New Home
Voting begins next week for this year’s Aviva Community Fund grant opportunity – help us win $100,000 towards a new Cowichan Valley Intercultural Welcome House! All you have to do is click below, register & vote to help us win. If you want to go the extra mile, please share our campaign with your friends and family. Register today so you are ready to vote next week!
For more information on our project, please visit our project page or feel free to contact Brian with any additional questions.
Thanks for your support!
Culturally Welcoming Volunteers 2.0
CULTURALLY WELCOMING VOLUNTEERS 2.0
Volunteer Cowichan proudly presents Culturally Welcoming Volunteers 2.0 Training Workshop for volunteer coordinators, managers, executive directors, community members and anyone who engages volunteers in their programs. Culturally Welcoming Volunteers 2.0 is a continuing professional and community development opportunity to build more diverse and culturally welcoming volunteer programs in the Cowichan Region. Last year, Culturally Welcoming Volunteers focused on four goals:
• Feel more comfortable, curious and relaxed about diversity.
• Build awareness about and skills for being culturally welcoming
• Collaboratively create a set of guidelines for recruiting, retaining and recognizing volunteers from diverse cultures (especially volunteers who are newcomers to Canada)
• For all of us to stay connected with Cowichan Intercultural Society for resources and other supports regarding intercultural fluency and being culturally welcoming of newcomers and other volunteers.
With funding again from the Province of BC – Gaming Branch for Multiculturalism – Volunteer Cowichan, Cowichan Intercultural Society and Inclusive Leadership Co-operative will host a one day training session. Building on the six guidelines developed in 2016 for recruiting, retaining and recognizing volunteers from diverse backgrounds, Culturally Welcoming Volunteers 2.0 aims to:
• Practice the art of being welcoming and inclusive.
• Explore your own conscious and unconscious biases.
• Mindfully open your heart and mind to being culturally welcoming.
• Develop Intercultural Competency
• Cultivate Culturally Appreciative Inquiry
• Continuing Education
Whether you are a past participant or new to a Culturally Welcoming Volunteer Program, please join us on Tuesday, 7th November, 2017, at Providence Farm for a deeper understanding of the changing landscape of volunteerism in Cowichan and how to be a leader in respect for diversity and building a more culturally welcoming volunteer program.
Culturally Welcoming Volunteers 2.0
Providence Farm Chapel
1843 Tzouhalem Rd, Duncan
Tuesday, 7th November, 2017
9:00 am to 3:00 pm (Welcoming 8:30 am)
Reserve your seat at vc@volunteercowichan.bc.ca or call 250.748.2133
$20 per participant (includes lunch) or $30 for two
2018 Global Art Project
The Global Art Project returns this year, and CIS is proud to be a local supporter of this worldwide project. “The Thirteenth Biennial Global Art Project for Peace invites participants around the world – adults and children, individuals and groups – to join in a multicultural celebration of global peace and goodwill through art. Anyone can participate.
In March/April 2018, participants around the world will create, exhibit and exchange art expressing their ideas of a peaceful global community resulting in thousands of messages of peace and goodwill simultaneously encircling the Earth during the week of April 23-30.
For more information, stay tuned to our website and facebook, or contact Francoise to show your support.
http://www.globalartproject.org/
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
2018 Global Art Project for Peace:
-13th Biennial International Art Exchange for Peace-
Tucson, Arizona, USA, September 12, 2017. The Thirteenth Biennial Global Art Project for Peace invites participants around the world – adults and children, individuals and groups – to join in a multicultural celebration of global peace and goodwill through art. Anyone can participate.
In March/April 2018, participants around the world will create, exhibit and exchange art expressing their ideas of a peaceful global community resulting in thousands of messages of peace and goodwill simultaneously encircling the Earth during the week of April 23-30.
Since its beginning in 1993, the Global Art Project for Peace has linked 145,000 participants in 93 countries on seven continents. Nominated for a UNESCO Prize for Tolerance and Non-violence, the Project connects people of diverse cultural backgrounds, providing exposure to new ideas and a feeling of connection to the Whole. 200 Regional Coordinators are currently helping to organize Global Art Project activities in their area of the world. Participating groups include art councils, artist cooperatives, performance groups, churches, corporations, environmental and community groups, hospitals, libraries, women’s clubs, youth and senior programs, YMCAs and YWCAs. Hundreds of school classes around the world are participating and involving thousands of students from kindergarten through graduate programs.
“The purpose of the Global Art Project is to joyously create a culture of peace through art. The Project gives participants in local communities an opportunity to join together to create a cooperative global community. It’s an opportunity for people to join their energy together to seed the future with visions of peace,” Project Founder/Director, Katherine Josten.
The 11th Year of the Multicultural Leadership Group Begins This Week!
It’s an exciting time of year as our LINC classes and Youth Outreach programming begin this week! The Multicultural Leadership Group will begin its 11th season this Wednesday, at St. John’s Anglican Church (doors at 3:15). Find out more about MLG here, and read below for this week’s agenda.
When: Wednesday, doors open at 3:15, opening circle 4:00, wrap up 5:45
Where: St Johns Anglican Church Hall, 163 first Street Who: all ages, all cultures, all faiths, all identities, everyone is welcome!
Why: To have fun while creating inclusive and caring communities
In Project Coordinator Linda’s words: “This week is going to be all about the ripples! Yes, ripples! But first, Welcome to the beginning of MLG’s 11th season! We will begin as we do every year, welcoming each other, ourselves, and new MLGer’s too, back from the many summer adventures we’ve been on. Whether they be good or bad, great or sad, wonderful or ordinary, or some combination of that, we will take time to share a few stand out moments, as we find the differences and the common ground. This will begin to prepare us for hosting ‘Expanding Our Common Ground’, details will be shared about this amazing opportunity! In addition to warm welcomes, fun gathering activities with a purpose, and project info, we will also be visited by a few past MLG participants, who will demonstrate for us how the ripple effect works! I hope you can join us! And bring a friend, family member, elder…all are welcome!! “
Spanish Language Classes for Beginners: October 4 – November 8
The Cowichan Intercultural Society is excited to announce a new round of Spanish Language Classes for Beginners. On Wednesday nights, from 6:30-8:30, come to our classroom to learn Spanish is a comfortable atmosphere with a small student-to-teacher ratio. Six two-hour classes are only $100! For more information or to enrol, please email Francoise or call 250-748-3112.
Closed Monday
The office is closed this Monday September 4 due to the Labour Day Holiday. See you when we come back for the long weekend on Tuesday 🙂
Les Murales
Les Murales
Funded by La Société francophone de Victoria, and organized in Duncan by the Cowichan Intercultural Society, LES MURALES is a public art opportunity open to both older children (12+) and adults. All materials will be provided on siteMembers of the public are invited to each PAINT a tile commemorating the shared histories of French, English, and Indigenous peoples of the pacific northwest. The finished tiles are to be gathered together with those of ‘Les Murales’ events being held elsewhere on the Island, so that the collection as a whole can later go on display in each of the contributing communities. There are plans to install the finished collection as a permanent mural at a location in Victoria.
Activites kick off at 5PM with performances (stories and songs) about the history of French in the Pacific Northwest, followed by a discussion of Chinook, the one-time trade language of the west coast. Participants will then be provided with materials to make their own contributions to Les Murales art project.
