Since going on my trip and starting my new position in Community Leadership at KPMG this past summer, I have become very familiar with Free the Children and Craig Kielburger's story.
Please click and read the hyperlinks in this blog to see why I am so passionate about promoting this organization and the good work they are doing around the world and right here at home. And also, the amazing speakers from We Day and their inspiring stories.
I've seen first hand how the FTC programs (education, health, clean water and sanitation, alternative income, and food security) are helping people in Kenya and I know they have programs like these in other developing nations like India, Ecuador, Haiti, and Ghana. Their unique Adopt a Village model is revolutionizing the way countries like Canada can help countries like Kenya.
Some of you may not know that I've also started a course in International Development this month. It's early days and we're only just starting to talk about "what is culture?" and how to effectively communicate with cultures other than our own (something to think about, it's not as easy as you might think) and already it's apparent that a group of people from one country cannot come in and tell another country how to change and what to change and expect those changes to 1) be the right things for that particular country and 2) be adopted whole heartedly by the recipients of this "help". Free the Children seem to really understand talking with the community to learn what their challenges are holistically....that is to say, "why aren't children going to school?" as opposed to "how many school houses would you like us to build here?". That is where the Adopt a Village model comes in.
So, that's the international part of Free the Children which is near and dear to my heart. But what I saw on Friday right here in Toronto really blew my mind!
First of all, the scale of this event and what it takes to pull We Day off! Many of you have been to the Air Canada Centre (or stadiums like it) for hockey, football, or concerts - well, picture it full of 18,000 screaming school kids and their teachers from Toronto and surrounding regions,1,000 volunteers like me, and 1,000 sponsors and honoured guests of FTC up in the boxes.
Secondly, the amazing line up of talent/speakers - I mean where else are you going to see Demi Lovato, Imagine Dragons, Barenaked Ladies, Martin Luther King III, President Johnson Sirleaf (first female president of Liberia), Kathleen Wynn (premier of Ontario), Chris Hadfield, the Kenya Boys Choir, and FTC motivational speakers Marc Kielburger (who by the way is a total cutie and I got to meet!), Craig Kielburger, Molly Burke, Robin Wiszowaty (if you get a chance, read her book "My Maasai Life", it's great), and Spencer West....all in the same room on the same day! See, mind blowing! They each had a positive, motivating message that I think really resonated with everyone there. I know I was impacted, hence this blog!
Martin Luther King III - 50 years after "I have a dream"
Those lights are the applause after the video of Martin Luther King Jr.'s
"I have a dream" speech was played
Robin Wiszowaty and President Johnson Sirleaf
Kenya Boys Choir
But what really moved me the most was to think that all these kids were there because "caring is cool". You cannot buy a ticket to We Day, you have to earn it. That means, every one of the 18,000 kids did at least one local and one global volunteer activity over the past year. In this day and age when all you seem to hear about is bullying, suicide, gangs, and other horrible things that kids go through and then you come to an event like this and hear people speaking about being nice to each other, helping those in need, dreaming big, and anything is possible - it's so inspiring! Especially when you see a 10 and 12 year old (Hannah Alper and Vishal Vijay) get up on stage in front of thousands of people and talk about what they are passionate about and doing to create change. Their passions are the environment and anti-child labour respectively...but their message was the same, it is their generation that is going to change the world for the better. And I believe them!
Craig and Mark Kielburger
Oh Canada!
View from the box I was "hosting"
Two days before the event about 800 volunteers went down to the ACC to get our wrist bands and learn about our duties for the actual day. We also got a tour of the venue and got to see some cool sound check stuff happening.
Setting up 2 days before
Backstage tour for volunteer training
Way up there in the 600 level (under the Rogers sign)
is the volunteer area where we had breakfast/lunch
We day is happening in 9 cities across Canada this year (I believe) so if you get a chance to volunteer I strongly suggest you do, it's a life changing experience. Maybe your company is already involved whether it's pro-bono work or as a sponsor - so you may be able to volunteer through them, like I did through KPMG. Super cool it's also expanding into the US and UK!! So, my overseas friends...get yourself to London and check it out. But remember, you heard it here from Canada first! :)
