...to hear from the Ecuador trip winners!  


The latest Directors of Change video is filmed at the Arizona-Mexico border


An Ontario high school student overcomes challenges


Spending the summer in the Maasai Mara


The journey of a youth board member

Age is just a number


A scenic shot in Nicaragua

My name is Jordana, and I’m a youth representative on Free The Children’s Canadian Board of Directors. When I was elected, I was nervous about being given the responsibility to represent the voices of youth on the board. What a huge task! Although I knew when I began that I would have two other people to share the job with, it was still a scary prospect.

I began my journey with Free The Children in 1999. I was only nine years old, and to me, going away for a week to an international conference sounded incredibly exotic. During this week, I learned more about child labour and education than I could have ever imagined. I was also encouraged to express my opinions, even though this was my first time learning about these issues. Receiving constant encouragement at such a young age really shaped who I am today. It was what gave me the courage to go on a Leaders Today trip to Nicaragua in 2002. Like many of you who have been on trips before, I was afraid, excited and everything in between.

The experience that will stick with me the most is going to a garbage dump in the capital city of Managua. I remember driving through the gate just seeing garbage for miles around us. I walked and walked, but all I could see was mountains of trash. There were people sorting through these mountains, searching for items valuable enough to sell. They lived on the dump in houses made out of trash. It was a horrifying experience to see that they did not even have shoes.


Travelling through India in 2005
When I came home, I struggled with how to tell people about what I had seen. Since none of the friends I made on the trip lived close to me, I felt like no one understood what I had experienced. Looking back now, I think that a lot of people who have been changed by what they have seen struggle with how to spread the word, and how to retell the stories that they have been entrusted with. The thing that drove me forward was the realization that these stories need to be told. Not all of the people we meet have the luxury of reaching out to people around the world like we do. One quote that keeps me going is from the play The Laramie Project, written by the Tectonic Theatre Project: “You know what is true. You need to do your best to say it correct.”

This quote inspired me to travel to India in 2005 and is what I keep in my mind when I bring forward the issues and perspectives of the Free The Children youth to my colleagues on the Board of Directors. All I can do is “say it correct” from my experiences.

Jordana Weiss
Youth Representative for Free The Children’s Board of Directors

 


Free The Children is the largest network of children helping children through education in the world, with more than one million youth involved in our innovative education and development programs in 45 countries. Founded by international child rights activist Craig Kielburger, Free The Children has an established track-record of success, with three nominations for the Nobel Peace Prize and partnerships with the United Nations and Oprah’s Angel Network.
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