Blog Action Day 2012–The Power of WE–WeDay & Free the Children.

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We Day stage

Today is Blog Action Day established in Australia in 2007 to bring bloggers together for one day and champion a common issue and highlight a non-profit or cause addressing the issue.  This year’s theme is the Power of We.  In their words: “It’s aim is to unite the world’s bloggers by posting about the same issue on the same day, in order to raise awareness and trigger a global discussion around an important issue that impacts us all.”  I have learned many things from my children but the passion that my 16 year old has for social justice, benevolence and giving back is staggering.
 
My daughter’s involvement with her social justice club in her Catholic high school has provided the opportunity to work with a fantastic Canadian charity: Me To We and Free the Children.   I asked her to take us through what is becoming a life changing day for many Canadian students: WeDay Celebrations.  This year’s Toronto WeDay was held September 28th at the Air Canada Centre.  
 
WeDay copyright 2012

Here is her account of that day: 
 
The day started at 4:30am. My mom and I were out the door at 4:45. Of course I had woken up late today of all days! I was so excited for We Day the night before that I didn’t get much sleep and must have slept through my alarm! I grabbed my iPod, a book and some snacks on the way out the door along with my phone which was buzzing like crazy from all the texts I was getting from my friends: “Where are u??” “The bus leaves at 5 weather or not you’re here you know!!” “You better be bringing food for us…” 
 
We got there just in time and as I hopped on the bus, I saw my friends sitting in the very back. They had saved me a spot and before I even had the chance to settle in, we were off. The ride was dark and quiet. Some people looked as if they had brought half their bed with them. I tried to sleep too but the combination of my excitement and a bright red emergency light right above me wouldn’t allow it. I listened to music for the majority of the 3 hour drive. 
 
The minute we stepped off the bus, we could feel the excitement in the air. Despite it being still quite early in the morning, everyone was buzzing and full of energy. We got to our seats in the Air Canada Centre, that were on the left side of the stage at about 8:30, but the show didn’t start until 9:00am. We had heard that there were going to be a lot of awesome performers and great speakers and once the show began, we weren’t disappointed.
 
The stage lit up and everyone was cheering. Many schools had brought posters with them saying “Our school is passionate about change!” or “We are the change!” There were so many people with posters that they had to ask people to put them down during the show so that they wouldn’t block anyone’s view! The music was loud, but the 16 000 youth were louder. I was overwhelmed with how passionate everyone was! It was great!
 
Throughout the show, we were encouraged to cheer, clap, wave our arms and even dance at times (the We Day dance of course). No one felt embarrassed or shy, because we all knew that we were in the same boat and we all just wanted to have a good time. There were performers like The Tenors, Shaune Desman, Hedley, Nelly Furtado, K’Naan, Jennifer Hudson, a youth hip hop dance group and a Indian dance group (who pulled a Gagnam Style at the end of their performance leading to an explosion of cheers from the crowd). They were all REALLY well done and they kept everyone entertained and excited.
 
There was a wide range of speakers that made inspirational speeches as well. There was the former American vice president Al Gore, who spoke about the importance of taking action now rather than later and protecting the environment. The Honorable Roméo Dallaire who taught us it is better to do what is right, rather than what is easy. And the great Spencer West, the first double leg amputee to climb Mount Kilimanjaro, spoke to us about his incredible journey and how we need to be able to support others when they need help.
 
Of course no We Day is complete without a little Marc and Craig Keilburger! The co-founders of Free the Children and creators of We Day made a couple announcements throughout the show and made sure that everyone was having a good time. They talked about the upcoming Free the Children campaigns such as We Scare Hunger (a canned food drive that takes place during Halloween trick-or-treating), We Create Change (a yearlong penny drive to help provide clean water for those who need it) and several others. I am personally going to participate in all of them and I hope that you will too!
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We Day is a great way to inspire youth to make change. It’s fun, engaging, thought provoking and effective. Seeing so many people that really want to help make the world a better place is really quite beautiful and gives me hope that our generation will be able to really turn some things in our world upside down!


Me to We is about living your life as a sociably responsible global citizen.That helps to support the work of Free the Children. Me to We measures the bottom line by: (1) The number of lives that they change at home and abroad; (2) positive social and environmental impact and; (3) in-kind and cash donations they make to Free the Children.


L. is a 16 year-old Grade 11 student at a London Catholic High School.  Her involvement in Me to We and Free the Children has become a passion of hers for the last 3 years.  She hopes to raise enough funds so she can go to Ecuador with Me to We next summer to help build a school.  She is the future and I see it will be bright with her and her friends at the helm.

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Margarita Ibbott is a travel and lifestyle blogger. She blogs about travel in Canada, the United States and Europe giving practical advice through restaurant, hotel and attraction reviews. She writes for DownshiftingPRO.com and other online media outlets.

2 thoughts on “Blog Action Day 2012–The Power of WE–WeDay & Free the Children.”

  1. Great piece and a great cause. You must be so proud of your daughter and she herself for helping those less fortunate. I hope that my kids (the next generation) are as sensitive to others needs. Looking forward to reading more about your daughters initiatives.

    Love your new logo (it’s new right?).

    Besos, Sarah
    Zookeeper at Journeys of The Zoo

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