Each year thousands of students, teachers, performers and speakers, gather together in 14 cities across Canada, US and UK to celebrate WE Day. I have always watched from home, and have always wanted to be there to feel the energy and share the experience with those around me. Well, this year, that came true for me and I attended. It was an inspirational, emotional and fun day.
We Day is a celebration of youth making a difference in their local and global communities. We Schools is the year long program that nurtures compassion in young people and gives them the tools to create transformational social change.
Together they offer young people the tools and the inspiration to take social action, empower others and transform lives—including their own..
Listening to Henry Winkler, an all around funny guy, speak of a teacher who told him he would never become anything because of his learning challenges and how he overcame them to get to where he is today, an actor, director but most of a he was presented with a Doctorate of Humane Letters in 1978. I have admired this man since childhood, when he played The Fonz on Happy Days.
Jocelyn, age 12 writes:
People go on with their day without even thinking about the people in other countries. We often take what we have for granted when people on the other side of the world have nothing. Free The Children all started with a twelve-year-old boy named Craig Kielburger and his older brother Marc. When Craig read about Iqbal Masih he was astounded. Iqbal was sold into slavery in Pakistan when he was four years of age. Iqbal was a twelve-year-old boy and had gotten killed for standing up for human rights. Read more on Craig and Marc. This was twenty years ago. Craig Kielburger is now thirty-two.
International activists and co-founders of WE Day, Craig and Marc Kielburger address 20,000 students and educators at WE Day Toronto at the Air Canada Centre on October 1, 2015. Photo Credit Chris Young/The Canadian Press
WE Day is to inspire young children to help people in other countries with education, water, food and homes.
What inspired me was the fact that Craig was so young yet, he made an enormous change. One of the hosts Spencer West has no legs. He was amputated from the waist down yet, he drove across the country. He explained that we can do anything if we put our minds to it.
Joseph Boyden talked about his depression. This inspired me to, in the future, start a clinical trial to cure depression. I also was inspired to join my school’s ME to WE club to help other people. I really was in total agreement when they said that mental illness should be treated exactly the same as physical illness. When somebody has a cold you don’t make fun of them so why make fun of someone with autism or ADHD?
Marc and Craig told us to repeat these words after them… WE are powerful, WE are a movement, WE can change the world. I love that the saying says WE. I love it because everybody can make a change on their own but imagine how big a change we could make if we worked together.
The part of WE Day that had the most impact on me was the speech by Michael “Pinball” Clemons. I was inspired with what he said and how he made me feel. I bet he is an amazing coach to play for and probably inspires the Argos with every speech before every game.
ME to WE they say, ME can change into WE and together WE can change the world.
How will you help make changes to your community?
Mama Bear’s Haven is a Canadian lifestyle blog created by Tammy Bell in 2012. She loves cold brew tea, chocolate and taking pictures of nature.There's recipes, parenting tips and crafts.
