Sanya has been attending the Sketch & Believe program for two years. One of the other girls brought her initially and she quickly found her place within the group. Through various activities and skits we did in our devotion times, we discovered that Sanya has quite the gift for acting. She is especially quick at thinking on her feet and improvising. She is also very funny. She usually has us bent over with laughter when we do any kind of activity involving drama.

This past year, she graduated from high school and was accepted into a BA program at York University. Her desire is to be a middle school teacher and I think that her comedic timing and ability to think quickly on her feet will serve her well in that profession! She has enjoyed the Sketch & Believe program so much that though she is now too old to attend the program, she wants to continue her involvement. She has begun volunteering with our middle school Sketch & Believe program. She will also be using this volunteer opportunity as one of her school placement requirements for a course she is taking after Christmas.

I generally quite enjoy taking on placement students, but I have to say that taking on Sanya is an even greater joy! What a privilege to see one of the young women from the program graduate, attend university and want to give back to the program. And even better, have the program continue to help her develop skills in a different capacity! She is also a huge inspiration for the younger girls. It is such an amazing thing for the younger girls to see Sanya succeed and continue her education. This truly is an example of the best kind of investment we could make.

My hope is that we will see many more young women seek similar journeys of making their dreams become realities. This may take different forms than Sanya’s journey, but I continue to pray that through the Sketch & Believe program, young women will build their confidence as they discover their creative voice and seek to impact the community of Jane Finch in positive ways.  // Karen R