Picture the Future Campaign has taken off!
Photo Credit: Gilbert G. Groud, Wikimedia Commons
It’s the first week of collecting donation from our wonderful volunteers, and it is quite exciting to see all the support from the schools and youth we are receiving! Volunteers are asking friends, family, and individuals to take pictures with them, while fundraising to raise money to rehabilitate former child soldiers.
The tables have turned and it is a two school split in two months: John G. Diefenbaker and Lester B. Pearson go head to head again, a departure from Canadian politics, to race in a picture marathon where students are competing against the other to see which school raises the most money! While Diefenbaker and Pearson square off in March, Crescent Height and Sir Winston Churchill will be participating in full flight in April! Watch for more fundraising activites in April…rumour has it at performances.
To which ever school does best! Expanding from the city wide high school competition, Lisa Bui (Co-Creator and Co-Organizer of Picture the Future Campaign) has rallied up her U of C colleagues for more support to this fundraiser!
Good luck to all donation collectors and may the most creative and successful team win! Attend the event on Facebook!
Join the Movement! Picture the Future Campaign.
Craig Kielburger believes in “Education for All”
I was fortunate to have been able to attend one of his conferences at The University of Calgary, and I had a chance to catch him after his motivational speech of transforming our perspective from “Me” to “We”. The sign was rather a slapdash last minute idea, but he didn’t mind the unconventional sign- a sign is a sign in the end. He politely nodded as I hurriedly explained our campaign with him, and his face lit up and was humbly surprised when I professed that after watching a video of him speaking for child rights at the age of 12, that he was one of my “sparks”, or one of the callings to social activism that brought me to action. He is an inspirational and internationally renown child rights activist, and was more than happy to take me up on my request! One of the most memorable moments of the conference was when he introduced the formula, “spark” + “gift” = A better world, indeed I believe that the calling that compels us to action and using our own talents to contribute, makes for a better world.
Craig Kielburger is the founder of the youth empowerment and child right’s organization, “Free the Children”, helping to develop and provide communities with access to healthcare, education, clean water and alternative incomes. He said at the conference to find a cause you are passionate about, and I have, with the Canadian Red Cross.
Craig Kielburger holding the sign, "I Believe in Education for All"
Child Soldiers and Children Affected by War Workshop- update
Photo shoot for a cause!
On Feb 13th, we had a sucessful and postive outcome to the Child Soldiers and Children Affected by War Workshop that WeiJia and I hosted at the Central Library. With three information sessions, we carried out in the fashion of a energetic simulation, a powerpoint presentation, a follow-up video on the impact of war on children, and finally, to bring all the information together, we applied the knowledge of the Conventions of the Rights of a Child and International Humanitarian Law to them.
Participants were moved by the moral dilemmas faced by child soldiers, and recoginzed the vulnerability of child soliders, but also that child soldiers deserved dignity and a chance to contribute to their community.
This workshop was also a volunteer information session for the chance for interested students to become part of a global and grassroots youth movement. It provided information on what the Red Cross is currently doing in Liberia, and what is the Child Advocacy and Rehabiliation (CAR) Centre. This was an invaluable interactive resource that will provided these great students with leadership skills and a more knowledgable base on the issue of child soldiers.
Where else to take an excellent photo shoot than a higher place of learning- the library! Knowledge leads to empathy and action.
If you would like to have workshops given at your school, please contact us!
You don’t need to be a professional photographer to instigate change
Today, thousands of children in Liberia simply do not have the financial means to receive an education. Without an education, they will not have the proper tools and knowledge to get out of the cycle of poverty. Helping to reincorporate them back into society will give them the opportunity to succeed. It is a method that is sustainable and will last for many generations.
The movement to bring rehabilitation to Liberia starts with you. Join the photo marathon and take as many pictures of yourself with each and every one of your friends and families holding up the sign, “I BELIEVE IN EDUCATION FOR ALL” in the month of December. Then, collect pledges for the pictures you take.
Your pledges will directly fund the supplies, infrastructure, and personnel needed for the creation of a safe, fostering school environment for children to receive a basic education. In collaboration with the Red Cross, our campaign will also bring more awareness for the importance of education and rehabilitation of child soldiers around the world
.What are you waiting for? Pick up a camera today!
A Call to Action
Dear Agents of Change,
Essentially, we (WeiJia Qin and Lisa Bui) had decided we wanted to create a fundraiser in order to raise money to help promote Red Cross’s CAR program in Liberia. How we were planning to run our fundraiser is that people collected pledges for taking pictures. These pictures will consist of the participant with the sign, “I believe in education for all”, with another person or people. The goal of picture taking is to be a collaborative goal, as people will be taking picture that will be turned into a huge collage. WeiJia and I are hoping to invite celebrities to take their own pictures with their own handmade sign, “I Believe In Education for All”, “For Healthier, Stronger and more Resilient Communities”, or “I Believe Education is a Right”. The point is to “picture the future” and to raise money and awareness for the cause. Ask for a pledge and then take the picture(s).
I would really love it if I could gain your help, in raising the awareness of this campaign and rallying people to participate!
I will provide more information if you great people decides to become involved! Thanks so much for helping out! Please contact picturethefuturemovement@gmail.com for more information or to get involved!
Sincerely,
Picture The Future Movement, Lisa Bui and WeiJia Qin
Join the Movement!
Children learning masonry at a CAR Centre
Without educations and skills, whole communities will never have the chance or knowledge to break the cycle of poverty and violence. Join the movement and picture the future yourself. Read the rest of this entry »
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