West Coast Sikh Youth Alliance (WCSYA) first started from a meeting in a Surrey basement in 1994. A group of university students met to discuss the current situation of young Sikhs. They quickly found that there was no real organization or group that focused on the youth of the Sikh religion. There were many initiatives put forth by the Gurdwaras of the community, however, many young people found that they could not relate to the teachings of the older generation. They pondered on what could be done to educate the youth about our wonderful Sikh religion and the means to go about doing it. The university students' main goal was to find ways to educate the youth about Sikhism in a fun and comfortable environment. After months of meetings, the students finally decided that an annual week-long camp would provide the best solution to their problem. 

 

Since 1994 WCSYA have grown from an idea in a basement to the largest Sikh Youth Organization in British Columbia. The West Coast Sikh Youth Alliance was established to provide a venue in which youth could teach other youth. So far, WCSYA has been successful in maintaining this vision with their annual summer camps. 

 

 

MISSION STATEMENT:

As the youth of the Sikh Community, we have experienced many of the trials and tribulations associated with growing up in Western society. Many times, youth become targets of the media and are often shown biased images depicting how one should look or how one should act. Quite often, these and other negative depictions of Sikh Youth lead one astray and create feelings of detachment from one's community. We feel it is our obligation to strengthen and develop the true identity and heritage of the Sikh Youth.  

 

When the youth are aware of the who they are and where they came from, only then can they separate fact from fiction. The WCSYA devotes itself to creating a confident new generation of high-spirited Sikhs.  

 

The WCSYA is committed to working together with all communities to ensure that our future generations have access to Gurmukhi, Gurmat and Gurbani lessons and everything else that the beautiful universal faith of Sikhi has to offer.

 

 

PURPOSE OF CAMP: 

 

What we do

WCSYA is a non-profit organization that holds annual events such as a weeklong camp for youth ages 10-18. The camps are both educational and recreational as the youth are introduced to the Sikh religion, and take part in various activities such as water tubing, canoeing, horseback riding, paintball, etc. At this camp we provide hands-on-experience, promote active participation, and always encourage all our campers to ask questions. WCSYA is based upon the philosophy of youth-teaching-youth as a means for a better communication and understanding amongst our fellow peers.  

 

WCSYA works to build bridges by educating young Sikh and non-Sikh students about each other to create more harmony in our larger community. The WCSYA openly invites all youth to attend its annual Sikh Youth Summer Camp. The participants are split up into three age groups of 9-12 year-olds, 13-15 year-olds, and 16-18 year-olds, in order to create a comfortable and non-competitive learning atmosphere. We provide a positive and beneficial environment in which Sikh Youth will be able to implement the fundamentals of Sikhi into their daily lives. Our primary goal is to inspire youth Sikh minds and to enlighten them to the beauty of our faith. We use a western approach to expose participants to the Sikh way of life by means of interactive discussions, workshops, and religious darbars.  

 

Below you will find what our goal was when we started WCSYA.  Today we have a campsite (KCMV - http://khalsacentre.ca/) that is for our youth, it is a place where youth camps and events take place along with the teachings of the Sikh Maryada.

 

Looking into the future

We are in the process of fundraising to buy our own campsite. The WSCYA has spent over $100,000 on campsite rentals since it was established. It makes more financial sense to put this money towards our own campsite where annual youth camps and other events can take place for the entire Sikh community. As a community, we need to rally together to raise the funds required to build our children's future. To date, we have been successful in raising $50,000 but we need at least $200,000 for a down payment. Please help us reach this goal by offering your help.

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