Sabrine just graduated from high school. She’s bright, she’s bold—and she’s ready to take on the world.
The 18-year-old, who moved with her family from Kenya in 2023, can hardly contain her excitement when she shares she got the highest mark in her chemistry class and she wants to become a pediatrician.
“I want to be a doctor—and I also love kids—so I thought maybe at the same time why not do something that you love with something that” said Sabrine.
Thanks to The Peaceful Village Program—a donor-supported agency partner that offers wraparound supports to newcomer youth, including post-secondary scholarships to participating students—Sabrine is able to afford to go to university in the fall and begin to live out her dreams.
“It’s not just a place where you come to study. It’s like your second home,” said Sabrine. “You come from school, tired and irritated, and then you come here—to your friends, to everyone else, just to lift you up. And then they will motivate you. I really, really love this place. It makes my heart light—it makes me feel at peace.”
"I think the reality of the time is evident. So just having that holistic wraparound support for a student is incredible."
The Peaceful Village Program is one of 33 out-of-school and summer programs funded by United Way Winnipeg donors.
The organization manages seven locations embedded in schools across the city, like Glenlawn Collegiate, Acadia Junior High, and Hugh John Macdonald School, which operate Monday to Friday for three hours a day, as well as the main community site on Wall Street.
Executive Director Daniel Swaka said 864 newcomer students were supported throughout the school year with hot meals and snacks, mentorship, homework help, fun activities, and more.
Academic guidance and learning materials make up the core of the Program, said Swaka, with students able to earn scholarship money toward post-secondary education for every year they successfully participate in the program.
In June, Peaceful Village celebrated this year’s 86 high school graduates. It’s a 93% graduation rate—far above the provincial average of 82%. More than 300 students also received scholarships towards post-secondary education or training.
“We’re able to create a space that each student can come to belong, but also be supported academically, to be with their friends, to focus on their academic work, and dream of graduating from high school—which sometimes is impossible,” Swaka said.
“I think the reality of the time is evident. So just having that holistic wraparound support for a student is incredible.”
Sabrine credits The Peaceful Village Program with inspiring her to continue her studies and do as well as she could in her classes during her senior year at Freedom International School.
“They always had that person who would actually make me understand how to do the equations and pass everything. They helped me with my assignments. When I felt like, oh, I don’t feel like doing math today, like I just don’t want to do it, they’ll be like, ‘You need to get up and do it—You can do this. You can do this,’” she said.
Swaka said he’s grateful for the generosity of donors, who help create opportunities for kids who are new to Canada to believe they can both reach their academic goals—and grow into healthier, more confident adults, too.
“I just want to say to all the donors of United Way Winnipeg that it’s a worthwhile investment, because I see students walking through that door—shy, not saying a word of English, not knowing about their futures,” he said.
“But give them two weeks, and they start refocusing and dreaming of becoming somebody that will be able to contribute positively.”
