Our Resilient youth
Meet Wahiba
A Place to BelongBeing a teenager is hard. Being a teenager and moving to the other side of the world is even harder.
“When I was little, we went on a vacation to our home country of Morocco,” Wahiba explains. “But my grandfather there fell ill and we stayed to nurse him – we ended up staying for six years.”
When Wahiba and her family eventually returned to Surrey a few years ago, she was 16 and in search of a place to belong.
Having grown up doing Tae Kwon Do, Wahiba asked a Counsellor at her school if there was a martial arts gym nearby. Recognizing it as an opportunity to help Wahiba continue in sport and build a new community around her, she pointed her towards Yo Bro | Yo Girl Youth Initiative which had an afterschool program in Wahiba’s school, Princess Margaret Secondary.
Whether she’s teaching jiu jitsu at Yo Girl, training for an upcoming competition, or heading out on a field trip, you’ll find Wahiba at YBYG six days a week.
“I don’t have much experience in life,” she says. “One of my favourite parts of YBYG is having so many friends there who are a few years ahead of me in life. Their advice is so important to me – it gives me perspective and support that I wouldn’t find elsewhere.”
“More than anything, YBYG is a family,” Wahiba explains. “And, in a family environment, you aren’t scared to voice your struggles. Having this second family gives all of us a place to belong and another option to turn to when we are pressured by peers or people at school to do things we don’t want to do.”
One of my favourite parts of YBYG is having so many friends there who are a few years ahead of me in life. Their advice is so important to me - it gives me perspective and support that I wouldn’t find elsewhere."
Wahiba leads Team Yo Girl, a new program that was created as a unique offshoot of Team Yo Bro | Yo Girl. This after-school, activity-based program is offered once a week throughout the school year. Team Yo Girl is only for young women so that those who, for religious or cultural reasons, can’t attend mixed-gender programs can still participate and build peer connections, acceptance, and confidence.
We saw some girls that were unable to participate in our co-ed activity programs for cultural reasons. We wanted to be respectful of their culture and their families wishes, but hated to see them excluded. That’s why we created Team Yo Girl - to reach a group of young women that we knew needed our guidance and community as much as anyone else."
Thank you for choosing to support Yo Bro | Yo Girl Initiative. Your generosity allows girls like Wahiba and her friends to find belonging at school and among mentors who guide and empower them to make positive choices.
You are changing lives when you believe in the resilience of our youth – thank you!