Bonjour mes amis!
I am writing from the newest Free The Children office in ice-cold Montréal, Québec.
Three months ago, I moved here from the Free The Children headquarters in Toronto. Thanks to our partnership with National Bank Financial, we are now bringing the message of children helping children for world change to francophone youth across the province of Québec.
It took us a long time to come up with the French name of Free The Children, because we wanted to get it just right.
In search of the perfect name, we spoke with many different experts. We spoke with people who study names, which is known as onomastics and touches on linguistics, history, anthropology, sociology and much more. We also spoke with people who understand the distinct culture of Québec. We wanted a French name that would perfectly represent both the history and the philosophy of Free The Children.
Many months later, Free The Children was finally reborn in French as Enfants Entraide.
The first part of the name is easy to translate: Enfants means children. The second part does not have a literal translation in English: Entraide means mutual help, which is where Free The Children’s philosophy comes into play. Our goal is not to only provide education to children around the world but to also inspire youth everywhere to be socially engaged in helping one another. It is not a one-way street of giving and receiving but a continuous circle of mutual respect and support.
Free The Children’s new name was officially introduced to the public this fall. Everyone came together for the kickoff, from representatives of the Québec Ministry of Education and friends from National Bank Financial to the students of l’École International de Montréal.
Craig Kielburger speaks at the Enfants Entraide kickoff at l’École International de Montreal.
Free The Children founder Craig Kielburger gave a powerful speech to start things off, and after Craig’s speech, la tournée Génération du Nous! (We Generation! tour) facilitator Mylène sang the official song of the French tour to further inspire the audience.
Today, as I reflect back on the creation of the name Enfants Entraide, I remember the famous Shakespearean question: “What’s in a name?” In our case, the answer is: Everything!
À bientôt,
Alem
Quebec Programming Director
Meet Alem!
Visit the Enfants Entraide website
Bring the We Generation! tour (in English or French) to your school
