One homeless is one too many.

This past week was rather laid back with a few speeches.

On Thursday, I was asked to speak at an event in Waterloo on Friday. I was already going to be there because I had a speech in the early afternoon, but it turned out that one of Heather's schools was having an event and wanted a speaker. Heather wasn't comfortable with speaking and asked if I would do it instead. I didn't really know what the event was but I agreed because, well, I might as well, right? I am a speaker after all and I'd already be in Waterloo... So we met up that afternoon so she could fill me in on what the event was. When she went into detail - I geeked out.

Turns out that two schools were inspired by We Day two years ago and wanted to make a difference in regards to the issue of youth facing homelessness. They started an event called "Strip the Streets" where youth rally together, walk from Kitchener to Waterloo chanting things like "hey hey, ho ho, youth homelessness has got to go!", eat from a set up soup kitchen, then sleep the night outside with some workshops for those awake. When I was told about this event, my heart started pounding. I'd seen this event before - but with college students and for three nights longer than this. As you can imagine, I quickly agreed to speak at the event and "pump up the youth" of the rally.

Youth rallying at Strip the Streets

When Heather and I arrived at Kitchener City Hall, there weren't many students there... I was a bit concerned, not sure if many dropped out or if the event was much smaller than they told us. We met with the educator and he said, "this is the calm before the storm... last year it wasn't until 4:30 on the dot when swarms of kids showed up"; and he was right! Suddenly, kids were coming from every corner bundled up in hats, gloves, and jackets, backpacks strapped on, holding signs with varying messages regarding homelessness. At that moment, I felt the excitement of my 20-year-old self on my very first night of the very first Tent City. I found myself wiggling my fingers in front of my face in excitement (anyone that knows me well enough probably just pictured me doing that) and started giggling like a school girl. This is my niche, this is my thing... Homelessness awareness.

Guest after guest took the stage - a big concrete stage outside of City Hall - students, members of Parliament, City officials. They spoke of the influence of youth, they sang songs from the Olympics, and they recited slam poetry regarding homelessness. Then I felt a tap on my shoulder and turned to see a young girl behind me... She asked me who organized the event and I pointed to the educator in charge. She then said, "I just wanted to say thank you... I'm 17 and I have been sleeping out here for a month and a half... and I really appreciate people doing this to see what it's like". Chills ran up my arms as I tapped the educator on his shoulder to introduce the two. I saw her explaining her story, his hand went over his heart, and he extended a huge hug to this girl.

"One homeless is one too many"

Before I knew it, I was being introduced as the "very special guest from Free the Children" and I was on to give my first impromptu speech. I ran up, grabbed the mic and yelled as loud as I could "Strip the Streets participants, are you readyyyyy?" I heard a few cheers, but none that I felt were loud enough... So I asked again, "I'm sorry, I don't think you heard me... I said... Strip the Streets participants, are you readyyyyy"? And I listened as over 200 passionate high school students cheered their hearts out. I proceeded to tell them that when I was asked to speak at the event, I geeked out (yes, I used my own terminology) and I explained why... I told them how four years ago, a few friends of mine and myself realized there wasn't enough talk on campus about important issues... and there was no action. We started the Social Justice League and our first event would be Tent City - a weeklong event where students would sleep outside, leave behind their personal belongings, eat from a mock soup kitchen, collect donations, host speakers from various homelessness organizations, all while educating the campus and community about the issue of homelessness. When we brought this idea to administration we were told "umm usually clubs have a bake sale for their first event". That didn't stop us though - we held many meetings, made our plans stronger, and with a lot of hard work were able to convince the administration to give us a chance. Now, Tent City went from 5-10 participants a night the first year, to 25 participants a night last year... and each year, the campus looks forward to the event and people constantly want to get involved.

I told these youth this story because I wanted them to see the impact they are having, and can continue to have. Their event has doubled went from 7-8 schools last year to 15 schools involved this year... Incredible! I wanted my story of Tent City to show them that if they could double their schools involved in just one year, then picture what the event will be in four years. After telling these kids how much of an inspiration they are to me, I reminded them that even though this event was incredible, that the real challenge is continuing their action the next day... "Your actions don't stop here, they continue to tomorrow". And they cheered.

Heather and I watched as they marched away, chanting the whole way. I can't even describe the feeling in my heart when I see so many young people wanting to change such an important issue. I thrive off moments like that one, they remind me why I do what I do... and they make me want to do my job that much more, and be that much better. The youth I meet are the youth I wish I was, and the ones I strive to be. Kids may tell me that I'm an inspiration after my speeches, but they'll never realize how much they truly inspire me.

"I couldn't climb the temple,
I just didn't think it was possible... it was huge!"

My challenge for you this week: When someone inspires you... let them know.




Fun fact: This past week I spoke to over 500 youth!

Cheers,
Bria

"And we raise our voices and shout 'Freedom'!"

My CP Team!

Last week, on my birthday to be exact, was Free the Children's first We Day in the Waterloo region! I was on the Crowd Pumpers team, which basically means I got to dress ridiculously, watch the show, and make sure everyone in the crowd was having a great time! Our team went up the night before We Day so we could have a practice/meeting with the CP volunteers. A few of us missed the first couple of minutes because we were taking a staff photo on the We Day stage, but when we came back upstairs, Amber and I burst into the room, and the six staff members of CP did a skit (half improv, half planned) to show what you should and shouldn't do at We Day... it was hilarious! We split the group up into teams and then split the teams up amongst the venue so each group would have sections to cover. The night was pretty successful, but we definitely got a taste at how hectic We Day can be once rehearsals and such got pushed back. The CPs that were picked to dance onstage with Shawn Desman were stoked when they got to rehearse with them, and it was definitely a lot of fun being able to dance his choreography!

The next day at We Day it was even more hectic! For the last two years I have volunteered at We Day in Toronto, which is about three times the size of the Waterloo We Day.. but man oh man, it's totally different from the Staff side! We wore ridiculous (but rather entertaining) headsets so we could communicate with each other and be able to hear. Everyone's outfits the day of were just what we requested: Tight and Bright! We spent the day pumping up the crowd for: Marc & Craig, Shawn Desman, Al Gore, Rev. Jesse Jackson, Michel Chikwanine, Spencer West, Robin Wiszowaty, etc. I must say, my favorite speakers of the day were the Aboriginal speakers that presented on Aboriginal awareness and the importance of our Local Spotlight campaign. It was interesting to hear a girl's perspective of how she was a child soldier in Canada when the Canadian military tried invading their reserve. Al Gore and Jesse Jackson weren't as good as I was expecting them to be, a bit disappointing. Aside from that though, the day was all we could hope for and more!

Nathaniel and I at the CN Tower

Once we returned to Toronto, it was an exciting time because Nathaniel came to visit for the weekend! We decided to celebrate my birthday and Valentine's Day this past weekend since we couldn't be together on either day. I planned a whole adventure in the city with Bachelor style "date cards" to some of Toronto's best spots. We had hot chocolate at Soma, went ice skating at Nathan Philips Square, went to the Eaton Centre, went to the top of the CN Tower (he's been trying to get me up there for two years), and went to a nice Italian dinner. It really was an incredibly fun day filled with love and laughter :) I will be visiting him in April down in Virginia and couldn't be more excited for it!

Overall, my last week or so has been nothing short of exciting and fulfilling! I've had "Happy Birthday" sang to me at least four times by co-workers, shared my birthday with some of my heroes, and was able to spend some quality time with my favorite person. Coming up, I have many speeches each week, the Youth in Action Summit in a week and a half (where I get to see my favorite professor), and Easter weekend in VA to look forward to!

The O-North family

From my family (Toronto family that is) to your's -

In Peace,
Bria

"Distance is not for the fearful, it's for the bold. It's for those willing to spend a lot of time alone in exchange for a little time with the one they love. It's for those who know a good thing when they see it...even if they don't see it nearly enough."

"But you inspire people too, so we love you."

Holy moly it's been a while since I posted! Sorry to all my followers out there (I'm sure there are oh so many of you), it's just been a crazy past few weeks! A lot has been going on, and a lot is going to continue to happen!

I got the chance to shadow my first bureau speech and go out on the road with Scott Hammell. Scott is a Me to We speaker and his speech focuses on the ideas of fear and conquering fears. He opens it with a video of him skydiving blindfolded and handcuffed... oh yeah, I forgot to mention that he's a magician! He then talks about fears (his biggest used to be heights) and how our fears in North America - heights, spiders, the dark - differ drastically from those around the world - malaria, not being able to feed your family, wild animals. He then uses this to discuss our Adopt a Village program. I have had the chance to see a few people speak, but I think that Scott has been my favorite by far. He has an incredible way of captivating kids and really keeping them engaged. After he spoke, their Me to We club came up and all the kids were asking him for his autograph. Then, this girl walks up to me and asks me for my autograph... I giggled and said, "You don't want my autograph, you want Scott's autograph", and she said "But you inspire people too, so we love you", and asked again. Suddenly I had a line of kids waiting for my autograph. It was truly uplifting to think that these kids truly look up to us at Free the Children and Me to We. It reminded me that regardless of any stress I come face to face with, those kids are the reason I am where I am, and that's all that matters.

The following weekend I had my first real Canadian experience... That's right folks, I went curling! My friend, Larissa, was going with some of her friends and invited me to come along, I figured why the heck not, right? Turns out, curling isn't so Canadian. Anyone I've spoken to has never curled in their life and no one really watches it. Canada -1; American stereotypes of Canada - 0. The sport itself is rather difficult (for real) and to be honest, somewhat boring. But overall, I was happy I tried it out because how many Americans can say they've curled? :)

My last two weeks have been jampacked with practicing for We Day (this Thursday!), writing my speech, practicing my speech, delivering my first speech (!), and LOTS of crafting! I had my first speech yesterday and it went really well! The kids loved it, a few came up to me afterwards and told me how great it was, and even the educator told me I am a great storyteller, which made me feel much more confident. My speech is like any other outreach speech where I explain what FTC is, how it started, Craig and Iqbal's stories, and our Adopt a Village program. The unique part of my speech (as with each speaker's speech) is my personal story from Belize... when I told the story about the boy and the canoe, the kids fell silent and they were beyond attentive. Towards the end of my speech I talk about how difficult it can be to keep your peers engaged and I explain how when SJL first started and all the hoops we had to jump through at BSU. It's really nice to sit down and think about all we accomplished, and all that SJL continues to accomplish there.

Finally, the best part of my past few weeks? The crafting :) I have met a few friends up here that also enjoy making all sorts of stuff so I've been making cards galore and other crafts I can't yet post here. They've all come out pretty well and it's nice to have that feeling of home while I'm here. (Sidenote: Julie and I also put together my desk all by ourselves!!) I definitely miss everyone back home, but I am loving it here. The people are great, my job is phenomenal, and the culture is incredible. As for now...


In Peace,
Bria

Interesting Canadian fact: College and University are completely different here. A College is a vocational school you attend after high school, and you receive a diploma in a specific trade (much like our vocational high schools), whereas University is for four-year programs like in the States.