The #WEOUTSIDE Summer 2023 is a partnership program between the Maine Association for New Americans (MANA) and the Maine Appalachian Trail Land Trust, with a focus on youth ages 13 to 25 who are currently are housed in hotels or the Portland Expo Center, and other immigrant youth participating in MANA’s Peer Support program. These participants traveled through harsh outdoor conditions to arrive in Maine in detention centers and then shelters and hotels. They are currently navigating the asylum system and seeking stable housing, but as summer approaches many of these young asylum seekers will have more free time to explore their surroundings. Below are some more photos from the 7 trips taken. You can read even more about each of the trips on the MALTA News & Events page.
#WEOUTSIDE #1= Training Day at Maine Audubon
The #WEOUTSIDE program was finally launched on June 30th at the Gilsland Farm Audubon Center in Falmouth, with the goal of introducing the participants to the Maine outdoors in low-key manner (and with food). Read more on the MALTA blog here.
#WEOUTSIDE #2- Birding On The Perham Stream Trail
The #WEOUTSIDE crew had its first outing in the Maine woods at the Perham Stream Birding Trail. Pete McKinley, an ecologist with The Wilderness Society, led the group along the trail through the blueberry fields. Pete’s skills in hearing and identifying the calls of migratory bird species really engaged the kids, who had great questions about bird behavior.
#WEOUTSIDE #3- Table Rock Hike With Mardi Fuller
The weather was hot for this hike with Mardi Fuller up to Table Rock in Grafton Notch. But this new group of hikers forged on, inspired by a female hiking expert who looks like them and so appreciates the magnificent wilderness! There’s even a documentary about her! Everyone enjoyed cooling off in the beautiful water of the Mahoosuc Land Trust’s Step Falls Preserve.
#WEOUTSIDE #4- Canoeing with Rangeley Lakes Heritage Trust
For this outing, we wanted to get the kids out to access Maine’s numerous lakes, rivers, ponds, and streams. Paddling is a great way to access the A.T. region of Maine that doesn’t involve hiking and is a great way to do it if you have a camera crew from Maine Public tagging along!
#WEOUTSIDE #5- Exploring Wabanaki Land + Culture With the Penobscot Natural Resources Department
On this trip, we were fortunate to have four staff from the Penobscot Nation Department of Natural Resources who took the group out to locations that the public normally doesn’t get to see. We learned about the Wabanaki culture and their relationship to the land.
#WEOUTSIDE #6- Little Bigelow Hike with Master Naturalist Samaa
The group hiked with Samaa Abdurraqib who is a multitalented Mainer in arts, humanities and community work, as well as a Wilderness First Responder, an organizer for Outdoor Afro, and a Maine Master Naturalist!
#WEOUTSIDE #7- Grafton Notch State Park with the Maine Bureau of Parks and Lands
Maine BPL staff had a number of activities set up for us to learn about geology, natural history, ecology, plant and animal identification. Participants made and brought home plaster casts of animal tracks, posters and activity books. We also explored Moose Cave, Mother Walker Falls and Screw Auger Falls.