Thirty youth from Folklorico Filipino, a Filipino dance troupe from the Toronto area, just found out for themselves the truth to the notion that travel broadens the mind. They also found out more about themselves and their backgrounds.

The youth and their adult chaperones recently returned from a week in Richmond, British Columbia, where they participate in a week-long exchange with the Philippine Cultural Arts Society of BC.

This was the first time that group leader Bobby Gabat took students on a Society for Educational Visits and Exchanges in Canada (SEVEC) exchange. He hatched the idea for the educational trip as a way to help young people, most of whom were second generation Canadians, learn more about their Filipino culture and heritage. The additional appeal for the exchange was that SEVEC, through funding from the Department of Canadian Heritage, covered all travel expenses for participants, making the trip easy on the pocket.

"I decided to take the group on this exchange in order to share and learn other dances from another group of young people and help both groups enhance their knowledge of ethnic musical instrumentation," explained Bobby. "I also wanted to give them the opportunity to have the youth learn about each other and realize that there are other youth organizations that are also involved in Filipino dance."

In July, while in BC, the Toronto-based group learned dances and took workshops from the Artistic Director of the Richmond group. In August, the BC group visited Toronto for a week, stayed with the Toronto students and, in addition to having lessons on new dances and ethnical music, the two groups also performed together at the Toronto National Exhibition.

When reminiscing about the highlights of the exchange experience, Bobby noted that "The youth really learned how to mingle with others as it was first time away from home for many of them yet they really became part of their hosting family. I enjoyed seeing how the students’ friendship and camaraderie became stronger."

A second group of youth from the Folklorico Filipino also went on an exchange to Saskachewan at the end of August. Their twin group from the Kumintang Folk Ensemble in Saskatoon will come to Toronto in November.

Interested in taking a group of students on an exchange as well? Apply with another group from another part of Canada or apply on your own and we will try and find a partner group for you from another province or territory. SEVEC exchanges can centres around culture, music, sports, geography, history, volunteerism…and more! Applications for all exchanges are now being accepted for next year at www.sevec.ca. and youth group leaders are encouraged to apply as early as possible. Have your students exchange, explore, experience though SEVEC!

For more infomation about this program, visit www.sevec.ca