A summer trip to Tanzania has inspired a local teen to take action and encourage others to do the same.
Beth Dennis travelled to the East African country this summer with the WE organization, which is a philanthropic charity focused on doing good both locally and abroad.
The organization came from the Me to We movement, started by Marc and Craig Kielburger.
From June 30 to July 20 Dennis was in Tanzania with a group of Ontario youth she had never met before to help build an addition onto a country school. The group also participated in community activities and interacted with local children in addition to participating in leadership activities.
One of the community activities involved a water walk, simulating the 1.5-kilometre walk many women make to fetch clean drinking water for their families. Dennis said she and the group had to hand off the water jugs a few times during the walk and still found it difficult to finish.
The group joined young Maasai warriors herding goats and cattle, many of whom never attended school.
Those who did attend, Dennis said, were “so smiley.”
Dennis was inspired by the kids’ love for school and joy at being able to attend.
“The principal told us the kids walk two-to-four hours one way to get to school,” said Dennis. “They were so happy to go to school. I really appreciate school now, I didn’t before.”
Dennis is a Grade 12 student at Collingwood Collegiate Institute.
She and a couple of others on the trip decided they wanted to raise $10,000 to build a new school in an unserviced area of Tanzania through the WE organization. The other youth who joined her on the trip have returned to their schools and are working to achieve that goal.
To help raise the money, Dennis and the CCI Youth in Action club have planned a We Day X, which is modelled after the motivational conferences called We Days organized by WE.
The event will feature 10 motivational speakers including Dennis who will be speaking about her trip to Tanzania.
The guest list also includes a member of the LGBTQ+ community speaking about life as a transgender person, Mayor Brian Saunderson, a member of the fashion industry, a sports psychologist, an Olympic skier, a community police officer, and Team Giver (the Collingwood team that placed second on Amazing Race).
“They will all have a takeaway message like ‘be determined,’ or ‘be yourself,” said Dennis. “And they’ll talk about how it relates to their story … we want to inspire people to make a difference locally, globally and within themselves.”
The We Day X event is open to the public, and tickets are $10 each. The event takes place April 3 at 7 p.m. at Collingwood Collegiate Institute. In addition to the speakers, there will be live music and raffle prizes. Tickets are available online here.
