Zac Whyte's Personal Blog & Links

 
 

 “He just changed my life and now I’m reassessing everything.” These were the words exploding from the mouths of youth who travelled to Powell River on Monday night to see Free The Children founder Craig Kielburger. Craig spoke out against child labour at the age of 12 and has since started a movement involving 1.2 million youth in 60 countries around the world. Free The Children has built over 500 schools and enrolls more than 50,000 students worldwide. At 27 Craig is now a seasoned speaker with numerous awards and endorsements from icons like Nelson Mandela, the Dali Lama, and media moguls like Oprah Winfrey.

Over 77 students and teachers from Highland, Mark Isfeld, and Airport Elementary excitedly sat through a dynamic presentation filled with video, music and empowering stories.  There were about 600 people in attendance and every seat was generously paid for by Investors Group Financial Services.

Many students from the Comox Valley are involved in Connecting With Kenya, a Vancouver Island initiative that supports Free The Children’s Adopt A Village campaign in the Maasai Mara region of Kenya. Craig Kielburger personally recognized the individual students and Connecting With Kenya for all of its amazing work to bring a school, fresh water, healthcare and alternative income programs to men, women and youth in Pimbiniet, Kenya. He even played the internet public service announcements from ConnectingWithKenya.com in his presentation as an example of speaking out on an issue.

Many of the youth who came from the Valley had never heard Craig speak before. After the presentation they were beaming. They were excited to see and hear how they can make a difference in their community and around the world. Most importantly they were motivated into forming action plans on the ferry ride home.
Next year Craig will visit Campbell River but in the meantime Connecting With Kenya will continue its campaign with renewed enthusiasm and shameless idealism. You can get involved with your own fundraiser or make a tax deductible donation to Free The Children’s Adopt A Village Program by visiting ConnectingWithKenya.com.

 


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