We Day: the movement of our time
- EFN Staff | December 16, 2014
Danielle Roy’s class trip to We Day in November will wind up changing her life forever and send her to Kenya. We Day is a global series of stadium-sized youth empowerment events. We Day Saskatchewan was attended by 15,000 students and educators at SaskTel Centre where entertainers and speakers share their passion for change and energize the crowd with performances and motivational speeches surrounding this year’s theme of empowerment.
PotashCorp, who brought We Day to Saskatoon for the third time as regional title sponsor, partners with Free The Children and Me to We to provide an opportunity for 25 students with a high level of interest in food security to volunteer in a community overseas. The students learn firsthand about sustainable development and bring the spirit of global citizenship back to their schools and communities. In 2013 the youth volunteers travelled to Kenya and in 2014 to India.
The plan is to return to Kenya in summer 2015 and each year, PotashCorp gives away one youth volunteer trip to an audience member at We Day. This year, Danielle Roy heard her name called out during the show, but she really had no idea what was going on. “I didn’t know what to think at first,” said Roy during an interview from her school, the One Arrow Almightyvoice Education Centre where she is in grade 12. “My friends were telling me I won something, but I couldn’t really hear. When I figured it out I was like ‘oh my God that’s me!’”
Then the whirlwind began. Danielle was spirited back stage where she met PotashCorp president and CEO Jochen Tilk, celebrities and We Day founder Craig Kielburger. “I talked to tons of different people and the We Day founder. He was really nice and talked a lot and they took like a million pictures of me with other students, the We Day guy and the President of PotashCorp. By the end my cheeks were really hurting,” said Roy.
Check out our photo gallery of pictures from We Day in Saskatoon.
PotashCorp is the founding partner of the Agriculture and Food Security pillar of Free The Children’s Adopt a Village development model. PotashCorp also directly supports six rural communities (two in Kenya, two in India and two in China) on sustainable agricultural initiatives.
“Having a student like Danielle win the trip is outstanding,” said Leanne Bellegarde, Director Aboriginal Strategy for PotashCorp. “What she learns in Kenya and brings back to her community of One Arrow will have positive repercussions for years to come. Students like this can be the change and that’s what We Day is about, inspiring students like Danielle.”
Danielle will be heading to Kenya this summer. The trip is not about sightseeing (though they do get to go on one safari) and relaxing. It is hard work in helping a community enhance their agricultural practices or building much needed schools. In the two Indian communities supported directly, they have improved farming practices have increased yields by an average of 44 percent and in Kenya and China, 93 percent of the people trained said their family’s health had improved over the past year and 85 percent became more self-sufficient by increasing their income.
According to her Principal, her teacher’s and fellow students are just as thrilled about the trip as Danielle is. “We are so proud of her and excited for the experience she will have,” said One Arrow Principal Dennis Perillat. “When she returns from her trip we will get her to visit the school and show her pictures and talk to the students about her trip. This involvement has really motivated us and we are starting a community garden in the spring because of it. This will change her life.”
Now the fundraising begins to get Danielle some supplies and spending money for the trip. Understandably, Danielle is nervous about the upcoming adventure but she is taking it in stride but she has lots of support and kidding from her family. “When they found out I was going to Africa, they were happy for me but everyone started teasing me about ebola cause it was in the news then, even my little brother,” laughed Danielle. “I’m excited to learn about the world and agriculture and food security, but really, I can’t believe I am going on this trip still.”
Read Robert Eastman's first-hand account of his experience at We Day.
Read Nicola Ballantyne's first-hand account of her experience at We Day.
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