Happy (belated) We Day Vancouverites! For those of you who got to attend either a We Day in Toronto or Vancouver I hope you had an amazing time. For those of you that live near any of the upcoming We Day locations, I HIGHLY encourage you to attend if you can.
We Day is essentially when thousands of like-minded youth gather together who are all inspired to make a change in the world. The event itself includes performers and a vast array of incredible speakers. In Toronto, this included Joe Jonas, Nelly Furtado, Danny Glover, Mary Robinson, Nina Dobrev, Rick Hansen, Shawn Desman, Robin Wiszowaty,
With Joe Jonas!
Spencer West and many more! Personally, I can vouch for how their stories made an impact on my opinion. I am not going to go into the details of what they spoke about (surprises are always fun!), but if you get the chance to watch some of the speakers online, it is 100% worth it.
A total of 20,000 people were in the Air Canada Center that day and I cannot even begin to describe the feeling that comes over you as you enter the stadium. The fact that every individual there is dedicated to helping others is a very powerful symbol representing the “generation of change”. You can feel the energy radiating from everyone, from the passion in the eyes to the stories they have to tell.
The Dalai Lama spoke at the Vancouver We Day in 2009!
Living in a developed country, many of us are lucky enough to have everything we need and want at nearly the drop of a dime. Necessities for life (healthcare, water, food, sustainable income) are not hard to come by. It is easy to forget how millions around the world are not given the same opportunities that we are. Many must work many harder, longer hours only to make less than one would here resulting in an extremely high disparity rate. Those who are involved in We Day, all understand injustice in these situations and they want to make a change.
I was actually privileged enough to have spoken as well. I am not the type of person to get star-struck, but I must admit I was at a loss of words when I met Craig Kielburger. I mean this is a person that I had grown up knowing as being an amazing individual who truly has made a difference in so many lives. Throughout this past year as Miss Teen Ontario, I had learned so much more about the amazing things Free The Children does and it is truly incredible.
Speaking at We Day! — definitely one of the best moments of my life
The most important thing I learned that day, is that change really is possible. Free The Children all began when Craig was twelve years old, he read a headline in the newspaper that said “Battled Child Labour, Boy, 12, Murdered”. The more he tried to make a difference, the more people told him that he was “too young” and couldn’t really make
When Craig Kielburger, was only 12 years old, he travelled to Southeast Asia to look into the problems with the child labour trade
much of a difference. Free The Children is now the world’s largest network of children helping children. Clearly, a change was made and since then as over 55 million children have access to education everyday and $15 million US dollars of medical supplies have helped more than half a million people throughout the world. Many more people have benefitted on both a global and local scale but this is the result of passionate, inquisitive minds.
So all in all, if you have some kind of idea about helping others, just do it. Nothing should hold you back and you should always believe in yourself, believe that change is possibly.
Please take 30 seconds (literally!) to like the We Day page on facebook. For every person that simply clicks that button, one dollar will be donated to Free The Children.
For every like on Facebook, $1 will be donated to Free The Children
A huge thank you to Free The Children for this amazing experience and I hope to see any of you if you go to the Winnipeg or Montreal We Day’s!
P.S. I apologize for the time gap between this blog and the actual Toronto We Day date…. University Exams are much harder than I ever thought they would be, but on the bright side I officially finished Midterms!
