Saskatchewan·Creator Network Video

Saskatoon environmental activist helps newcomers embrace the outdoors

Coming to a new country is not easy. But it can be even more difficult when that new country has an unforgiving climate that includes winters that seem to last forever.

Graeme Hopkins partnered with Open Door Society to create Outdoor Adventure Club

Maryam Wajahat stands on a tobaggan hill with members of the Outdoor Adventure Club.
Maryam Wajahat stands on a tobaggan hill with members of the Outdoor Adventure Club. (Marzia Kamyabi)

Graeme Hopkins knows what it feels like to struggle. The Saskatoon 20-year-old says high school was rough.

"It felt like, almost like Lego. Like I was being disassembled. And so many parts of my identity and my character were being taken away with every struggle and every failure that I went through," he said.

"So I wanted to rebuild that. I wanted to say, 'OK this is a mess, let's clean it up, let's build it back.'"

For Hopkins, part of that rebuilding is giving back to others in the community. He's on a gap year right now, with plans to go back to university to study paleontology in the fall.

Graeme Hopkins sits in front of a camera for a Creator Network mini-documentary by Marzia Kamyabi
Graeme Hopkins is the subject of a Creator Network mini-documentary by Marzia Kamyabi. (Marzia Kamyabi)

Hopkins said he has always been passionate about the environment, climate change and the outdoors, so it made sense to combine those passions with volunteering.

"I really believe in the incredible power of outdoor activity in forging connections and making people feel welcome and at home where they live," Hopkins said.

That energy and enthusiasm is why the Saskatoon Open Door Society (SODS) approached Hopkins a little over a year ago to get involved with its youth leadership program.

WATCH: Filmmaker Marzia Kamyabi followed along as Graeme Hopkins took a group of newcomers sledding as part of the SODS Newcomer Adventure Club: 

Saskatoon environmental activist passionate about creating outdoor experiences for immigrant youth

1 day ago
Duration 5:02
Meet a Saskatoon environmental activist and author helping bring fun outdoor experiences to immigrants and their families.
 

Maryam Wajahat, the facilitator of youth programs for SODS, said she's always looking for ways to get young people out into the community to try new things. 

Wajahat said the collaboration is a great fit because Hopkins is a young person, meaning he can relate to other youth, and understands what they need.

Maryam Wajahat is the facilitator of Youth Programs for Saskatoon Open Door Society.
Maryam Wajahat is the facilitator of youth programs for Saskatoon Open Door Society. (Marzia Kamyabi)

Many newcomers face struggles adapting to a new city or country, Wajahat said, especially when they left friends and families behind.

"We have seen a trend where youth are very aware of the environment and climate change," Wajahat said. "So by having the Outdoor Adventure Club and other programs that we do, it's really great to address some of those concerns that these kids are experiencing."

The Outdoor Adventure Club is open to kids aged 13 to 18 who are new to the city or country. The club brings young newcomers and their families on free outdoor excursions in and around Saskatoon.

Past trips have included tubing at Optimist Hill, kick-sledding at Victoria Park, hiking at a local nature conservation area and riding a horse-drawn sleigh through Saskatoon's downtown river valley.

Graeme Hopkins stands in front of a Science East Science Centre display.
Graeme Hopkins at the Science East Science Centre in Fredericton, N.B., during the 2019 Canada-Wide Science Fair Science East. (Graeme Hopkins)

On the day filmmaker Marzia Kamyabi shot her documentary, the group headed out for a few hours to a tobogganing hill.

Hopkins, Wajahat and the participants were bundled up in heavy coats, mitts and toques to brave the -20 windchill.

Everyone seemed to be having a great time as they zipped down the hill on colourful sleds.

"I'm not such a great painter, not such a great musician," Hopkins said. "But this is one area in which I feel that I am pretty good at the art I create. I create experiences."

Graeme Hopkins stands in the mouth of a dinosaur replica at Jurrasic Quest in Saskatoon, May 2023.
Graeme Hopkins during a visit to the Jurassic Quest exhibit at Prairieland Park in Saskatoon in 2023. (Graeme Hopkins)

CBC Saskatchewan's Creator Network is a place where young digital storytellers from diverse backgrounds can produce original video content to air on CBC and tell stories through their own lens. Get in touch or pitch your own story here.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Anna-May Zeviar is the Creator Network producer for CBC Saskatchewan. She also produces the CBC Saskatchewan News at Six, and has a radio column as the Deal Diva. Anna-May has worked at CBC since 2000, starting in Vancouver. She's worked in BC, Alberta and Saskatchewan as a reporter, writer, host, and producer. If you have story ideas or a pitch for the Creator Network, email anna-may.zeviar@cbc.ca.

With files from Marzia Kamyabi