As a new student collective refines its identity, students involved are also looking to tackle local issues and advocate for change in their communities.
Kick-started from a 12-week project management course with non-profit organization Phase 1, Next Door Collective is made up of six undergraduate students from across Ottawa.The collective wrapped up its first event on Feb. 6.
Looking to form a community-based advocacy organization, the collective is still figuring out what issues it wants to take on.
“We don’t want to be associated with any one community, ethnicity, background, religion or gender, we really just want to be inclusive of everybody,” said Amira Faqi, a marketing and outreach team member and second-year law student at Carleton University.
“We just want to sound like we’re next-door neighbours.”
As the final part of its course with Phase 1, the collective was tasked with planning and executing an event of its choice with $2,000 in grant funding from the Ontario Trillium Foundation.
“I noticed that certain clubs were complaining about not having enough funding for their programs, and I also noticed that these clubs were the same clubs that were bringing students together,” Faqi said.
In response, Next Door Collective hosted its first event, a murder-mystery game night, with the Carleton Black Student Alliance (BSA) and Carleton University Somali Student Association (CUSSA).
In a packed lecture hall at Carleton, the BSA and CUSSA played mafia, a party game that involves one player who eliminates others, and a blindfolded group who tries to guess who is behind the crime.
“Mafia is a game loved by many. I personally love it. I think all of the girls loved it. And we just wanted to make it a very fun experience,” said Souheyla Bouh, the collective’s event co-ordinator and a first-year sociology student at the University of Ottawa.
The game ended after one long round, where a $1,000 cash prize was handed out to the BSA when Divine Jojolola, one of the event co-ordinators for the alliance and a Carleton student, won.
“I didn’t think we were actually going to win,” he said.
Jojolola said the prize money will be put toward a fashion show planned for late March so the club can hire models and sponsor brands. Unlike last semester, where Jojolola said the BSA ran some of its events “out of pocket,” now, he said it won’t have to charge students for snacks or other products.
“It’s a really good way of giving back to the community,” he said.
After some hands-on experience, Next Door is looking to pivot and tackle larger issues affecting the capital region.
“We’re still kind of on the fence about what to do,” Bouh said. “A lot of issues in Ottawa, and in the world right now, relate to each other. So, I think [we] want to tie all these issues together and create something.”
But, Bouh said the first hurdle is to find a new source of funding. Next Door receives no money from Carleton University Students’ Association, like traditional clubs on campus, and also have used up its one-time grant from the province for the mafia night.
She added that the collective is going to start social media campaigns to stay on budget, and raise awareness for homelessness, mental health and academic struggles.
Simeh Bouh, the director of Phase 1 and Bouh’s older brother, said he is amazed by the passion shared by the collective and is happy he has been able to help spur on meaningful change.
“There is this proverb that if you want to go fast, go alone; if you want to go far, go together. So, it’s nice to see them embody that and support each other.”
Featured Image provided by Next Door Collective.
