WE Day

WINNIPEG FREE PRESS SPECIAL FEATURE | SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 2015 | PAGE 1 I n January, when Acadia Junior High students escape -30 C morn- ings into the warmth of their school's foyer, HOPE Club is already waiting. Their set up includes a big thermos of hot chocolate, takeaway cups and containers of extra milk and marshmallows. One cup costs $1 and all proceeds go toward building a clean water system in a developing community — one of the kids' many fundraising projects. "We'd sell it in the morning and at lunch so that people could get a nice start to the day and something warm to take with them," says club member Carolynne Bracken, 13. The kids think like philanthropists but they plan like entrepreneurs. They sell 25 to 30 cups of hot choco- late on a typical morning and upsell with tickets for their gift card raffle at five for $4. The loonies add up. With their well-planned calendar of fund- raisers — bake sales, school dances, freezie sales, pie-a-teacher-in-the- face events and walk-a-thons — the 50-student team has raised $40,000 for local and global charities in the 16,000 STUDENTS TO CELEBRATE CHANGE AT WE DAY MANITOBA Acadia Junior High students harness the power of WE By Peter Chiykowski Award-winning travel journalist beads with mamas By Heather Greenwood Davis last nine years. HOPE Club isn't acting alone. They're participating in WE Schools — a movement of 10,000 schools across North America and the UK that believe in the power of service learn- ing and collective action. Schools join the year-long educational program, plan actions to improve their local and global community and gain access to lesson plans, service campaigns, the support of a programming coordina- tor — and tickets to an inspirational event called WE Day. RAFIKI HAS POWER TO CREATE GLOBAL CONNECTIONS K ajiado, Kenya — For hours I've sat in a truck heading south from Nairobi. We pass the Ngong hills and bump along dirt roads making our way to Kajiado — a rural county in the Rift Valley. "We're here," says one of my fellow travellers, ME to WE CEO and Arti- sans founder Roxanne Joyal. At first I see only dirt roads and patches of dry grass but then I spot them: clusters of colour in the fields ahead. Spread out across the ground un- der a giant acacia tree are about 100 women. Their kaleidoscopic sari-like wraps and jewelry-adorned necks, ears and wrists are bright flashes against the dusty brown landscape. These are the "mamas" — a group of Kenyan women and mothers who use their skills and an age-old tribal art to create gorgeous pieces of beaded jew- elry for North American buyers they may never meet. ME to WE Artisans — in place since 2009 — relies on two organizations created by Canadian brothers Craig and Marc Kielburger: the for-profit social enterprise ME to WE and the charity Free The Children. Free The Children works with local CELEBRITIES FOR CHANGE World-renowned speakers and performers take the stage at WE Day Manitoba, shining a spotlight on the power of hope, empathy and small actions to change the world. "Courage. Dream. Success. That's a formula to break down barriers." "It's not about 'me.' It's about all of us working in solidarity togeth- er. What this is today — this is all about change, this is about em- powerment and this is about love." "Every one of you has greatness inside you. Your job is to find that greatness, dig it out and give it to the world as a gift." CONT. ON PAGE 2 >> CONT. ON PAGE 8 >> RISE TO THE CHALLENGE www.sjr.mb.ca SJR students challenge themselves to improve their School and their communities and are proud supporters of WE Day 3616618 1 10/28/15 4:41:13 PM Youth can't buy a ticket to WE Day. ey earn their way in by taking action on one local and one global issue. A Kenyan artisan (le) welcomes Heather Greenwood Davis to a beading circle with gis of a shawl and a white beaded necklace. "WE Day inspires me a lot," says HOPE member Nasra Ahmed Siraj, 14. "One thing that I love is when peo- ple tell their stories." For Nasra, a recent immigrant who MARLEE MATLIN KARDINAL OFFISHALL HENRY WINKLER WE Day November 14, 2015

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