Hey everyone!! So it's been about 9 months since I have completed this project but something special is coming up so I thought I should share. In 3 days I will be attending my very first me to we trip to Kenya. We booked it last year so I can not believe its finally here. I am so excited to be able to share this experience with my mom and my grandpa. We will be building a school, learning all about the culture in the communities and actually going to visit the village that the school I, along with so many of you amazing supporters, have worked so hard to fund. I will actually get to meet the children that will be educated because of our hard work. I am so excited and I can't even tell you how grateful I am to be going on such an amazing trip and for getting to experience everything I have in the past couple years with free the children. Thank you all so much for supporting me with this project and thank you to my parents who will be funding the trip for me.
Me to We Trips - Kenya***************************************************************************************************************************
I would like to thank Tracey Palmer for donating 100!! Thank you for getting me up and over my goal! Your donation will be going towards buying school supplies for the kids at the school. *************************************************************************************************************************** ***************************************************************************************************************************
I think it is because of all the business that comes with this project, or maybe its just simply because I forgot, but I havent thanked four very special people. My wonderful grandparents, known to me as Nanny and Pocamickey, and of course my own mother and Matt. So to make up for that I'm going to give all of them a very special thank you right now! Nanny and Pocamickers, you guys have been so amazing to me and I am so grateful. Thank you for helping me out with big projects, donating items to my garage sales, donating your money and time, and for always being there for me. You guys have contributed so much to this project in so many little ways and big ways and I'm just so grateful to have you two in my life! Mom, where do I begin? Well, I guess the major thing... You gave birth to me right? Brought me into this wonderful, fragile world. You have taught me all I know and I wouldnt have become so passionate about making a difference if you hadn't taught me all about what it's like to care. Not only has my mother donated a lot to this project but all the donations I receive that require giving out a gift, such as the rafiki chains, she has paid for all of that!! Of course the support she gives me is always a huge part of why I'm so grateful so thanks mum, for making me the person I am today. Matthew! Oh my god, the last year you've pretty much devoted your life to helping me with this goal!! Not only have you donated money, but you've helped make all of these events happen. You brought my project t the attention of the Laurier Centre for Military Strategic and Disarmament Studies from the Academic Council on the United Nations Systems who generously donated $2500.00 from their conference on the Horn of Africa. You've gotten people like Craig Kielburger to visit my website, and supported me 100 percent along the way, Thank you so much for all of the amazing things you have done for me and taught me. Over the year of fundraising I have received nothing but non stop support from you guys and I am truely grateful. I love you guys to the moon and back and am so glad to have you in my life! *************************************************************************************************************************** ***************************************************************************************************************************
WE DID IT! We have now officially raised $8,500 that will go towards building a school in Kenya. Looking back at the beginning of the year when I came up with the idea to do this project, I could never have dreamed what it would feel to have raised the full amount of $8,500. I am so grateful for all the help, donations, and support that I have received throughout the process of my fundraising. You guys have just made everything ten times easier for me. I have learned so much from this experience, public speaking being one of them. I’ve had to step out of my comfort zone a lot in order to get things done and that has taught me many life lessons. I have to admit, when I first started fundraising for this project I realized how much money it really was and how difficult it would be and I definitely had my doubts but I kept going and now that I have finally finished raising the money I feel very accomplished. I couldn’t have done it without any of you though so thank you so much! All the money raised will be going straight to free the children, which will then be put towards building a school in Kenya. Any money raised over the total will be going towards buying school supplies needed for the school. My mom has given me an amazing gift this year! Her and I will be going on a Me to We trip this summer to Kenya to build a school in Kenya. We will be bringing the extra money from the total along with us and buy the school supplies there, as to contribute to the economy. This has been one of the best experiences I have ever had. Although I am sad to be finished all of the fundraising, I am overjoyed with thoughts that kids in developing cities in Kenya will soon be getting the opportunity to get a quality education by going to this school. I have had so much fun on this amazing journey and I am so grateful for everything it has taught me. *************************************************************************************************************************** ***************************************************************************************************************************
I would like to thank some amazing people for getting me over my goal with their donations! Thank you to Alec Saunders, who donated $100, Mary Cave, donated $29, Paul Alvarez, for donating $65, Mark and Kristy, for donating $100, and Vitu for donating $380!! Thank you guys so much for these amazing contributions and for helping get above my goal of $8,500. Thanks for being the change!! *************************************************************************************************************************** ***************************************************************************************************************************
The conference
Today I attended a conference held by ACUNS and the Laurier Centre for Military Strategic and Disarmament Studies on the insecurity in the horn of Africa. I had written a little bit about this in my earlier blogs but at this conference I was to be giving a speech and presented with a cheque of $2,500. When I got there Matt introduced me to a few of the people and I even talked to one of them for the 10 minutes I had to wait to give my speech. We talked a lot about free the children and our experiences with them. They played my speech video up for everyone to see and then presented me with the money. I gave my speech and at some points during it I felt like I was going to collapse. I was extremely nervous but I just kept thinking of something my mom had quoted this morning. She quoted from the song I hope you dance by Lee Ann Womack (which is above). She said "Never settle for the path of least resistance." I think that this means that if we take the easy way out of things than we wont accomplish anything great in life. We need risks and even failures to do great things. I just kept this in mind when giving my speech and it kept me going. I put the lyric version up so you could read the lyrics of this inspirational song that I love for so many reasons. *************************************************************************************************************************** ***************************************************************************************************************************
I would just like to thank the Nowe family for donating $25 to my 8500 for Kenya project. You guys rock! *************************************************************************************************************************** ***************************************************************************************************************************
Upcoming speech In a few weeks I will be attending an academic conference held by ACUNS and the Laurier Centre for Military Strategic and Disarmament Studies on the insecurity in the horn of Africa. They have decided to give a donation to a charity or project in the horn of Africa. Matt works at the centre and was able to talk to them and after learning more about my project and visiting my website they decided to donate to 8,500 for Kenya! They will play the slide show with my speech and then they will present me with a cheque of $2,500. I will then give a quick thank you speech expressing my gratitude. For those who have been following me and been on my website more than once you probably know how terribly horrified I am at public speaking. And this time it wont be in front of a group of family members, its going to be in front of a bunch of academics who are intelligent and wanting to be impressed by me. I'm really scared but I'm still going to stick through with the speech anyways because I CANNOT pass up a donation like this. I cant pass up any donation and I think that doing this speech will be facing my fear and hopefully help me improve for the future! After this cheque is presented I will have $7,631! I'm so excited and cant even believe that I'm this close to my goal. *************************************************************************************************************************** ***************************************************************************************************************************
Thanks I would like to take the time to thank Tracy Bannister and Jeff, Natalie and Quinn for contributing to my 8500 for Kenya project! Tracy donated $100 dollars so thank you so much! Jeff, Natalie and Quinn got a family photo shoot taken with Matt and Matt had made the agreement with me that for all of the family shoots he takes he will give me money out of it, so I received $200 from that. Thank you so much for being the change! *************************************************************************************************************************** ***************************************************************************************************************************
GARAGE SALE update: That night after the garage sale we had a big family dinner where i made another $45 off of the scarves that gramma Symes made. Making the total up to 1,066. Thank you guys once again for all your love and support! ***************************************************************************************************************************
*************************************************************************************************************************** GARAGE SALE!! For the past week I have been in New Brunswick visiting some family and having an awesome vacation. Last time I had stayed here I had given a speech at the family christmas party and raised $1005 in donations! At that time Grampa Symes got really interested in my project and suggested we have a garage sale the next time we come. So, we did. With the help of Barb, Grampa Symes, Gramma Symes, Monica, Merve, Matt, Mom, Samantha and the family members who donated the items, I was able to raise a astonishing amount of $1021.67. I am now so much closer to my goal! Thank you for all the love and support! Hailey*************************************************************************************************************************** I would like to thank my coach Phil for all that hes done for me. I've known him for most of my life and he's never stopped supporting me. Not too long ago he donated 100 dollars to my project and then just recently him and his work, Primespec, raised $300.00 through a golf tournament and donated it to 8500 for Kenya. He even made me a big cheque! Thank you so much for being the best coach/second father ever!
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The Horrible Truth of Our Delicious Treat Does everyone reading this love chocolate? A lot of people do, and I can say I certainly do too! But I have recently learned a horrible truth about our beloved treat. From watching a documentary I have learned that the cocoa beans (which are what make our chocolate) are made using child labour. The documentary entitled “Semisweet: Life in Chocolate” focuses on four stories of chocolate. The worst being in Cote D’ivoire, where there is more than 15 000 children working in the fields. Children go there being told that they will make good money and they will be able to leave with enough to support their family. What they are not told is that money is taken out of their pay checks for their transportation there and back, their rent and if they don’t reach a certain amount of work in a day they aren’t paid for it. Children, starting as young as 6 years old, are forced to work 16 long hours a day and if they protest or wish to leave they are beaten nearly to death. Not only do they get punished for “misbehaving,” they are punished for working in general. Not by the owners this time. Their job consists of spraying pesticides on the cocoa beans. Working 16 hours a day every day in those fumes causes children to pass out on the fields and die because there is no way to revive them. This is no job at all, this is slavery. While these children work for long, dreadful hours every day and lose their lives working to give us cocoa beans, we just sit back and relax eating a chocolate bar whenever we want. None of these kids know what they are working for, they don’t know what chocolate is, and they are dying so we can have it. One of the sad/happy moments in the documentary was when the directors gave each of the African slave labourers that they had interviewed their own chocolate bars. It was amazing watching them look at it as if almost scared to try it and then to take a bite and watch the smiles take over their faces. After watching this documentary I have decided to boycott all but fair trade chocolate. I have been doing so for about a month. When I tell people that really know me that I am doing this, they are surprised. I used to go to the mall with my friends and go into shoppers and buy four chocolate bars and eat them all at once. But now, after hearing the truth, I just can’t eat it. Yeah, I have my days where I long for its delicious taste and it’s been difficult, but I can do it if it means raising awareness for something I care about and making a difference. So please, after reading this, think about what you’re eating. Fair trade chocolate tastes just the same! You may continue to eat it, and it’s your choice, but just think about it, because is paying a little extra to buy fair trade really worse than taking a child’s life? To watch the documentary for free go to http://backend.tvo.org/video/178606/semisweet-life-chocolate# *************************************************************************************************************************** ***************************************************************************************************************************
Thanks Hey everyone! I would just like to give a big thank you to one of my mom's closest friends, Caroline Lambert, and her two daughters, Marissa and Emily, for donating $100.00 dollars to 8500 for Kenya. Part of it was my birthday money and some of it was from a garage sale she had when her daughter bought some of my stuff. I really appreciate the donation! Also another big thank you to Sue Barg and the Strong family for donating $125.00 to my project. You guys rock! *************************************************************************************************************************** ***************************************************************************************************************************
The past two weekends I have held two garage sales. I have been posting about them on my website so those who keep up with my blogs most likely saw them. It started out with me expecting to be the one at the table, talking about my project to those interested and selling the stuff at my garage sale. But after about an hour no one had come. We soon realized that the signs we had put up weren’t exactly easy to read while driving in your car. That was a huge problem. In order to sell things at a garage sale you need customers. So, my friend, who had come to help out, John, my sister, Samantha, and I set out with our signs to go to the street corners and advertise. Advertising to me means that you catch someone’s attention in a unique way and use their attention to make sure they know what you want from them. So, when we headed out to the street corners we weren’t dressed in our regular clothes. I wore a yellow bee costume from when I was around 4 or 5 years of age, with a neon blue tutu and a Hershey kiss hat. I carried a flag and yelled about the garage sale, where it was and a little bit about my project. Samantha wore a similar costume and waved a sign around and John twirled a sign while yelling. Most of the people that passed me gave me smiles, waves and even honked their horns, but I did get a few confused or just rude looks. Yet, those rude looks didn’t discourage me. We were making money! We were out there for about 4 ½ hours and I have to say, my voice did hurt quite a bit after we were finished, but it was all worth it. I would say about 90 % of our customers had heard about our garage sale from us dancing on the corners. We ended up making a total of $225.61! I was extremely excited, and of course all the money went to building a school in Kenya! The second garage sale we did the same. We only made a total of $67 that time (which don’t get me wrong, that’s still good). I think the reason we didn’t make as much money the second weekend as we did the first was that it was lightly raining for most of the morning. Not too many people want to shop in the rain. Overall the experience was fun. I learned a lot about having to work hard to get things done well. I would also like to thank John for coming over at 6 am to help set up and then stick it out with me through the four hours of dancing at the side of the road. It helped me a lot. And of course I must thank my little sissy poo, Samantha, for also being out there with us and actually getting out of bed early enough to help out (she likes to sleep). If any one that attended my garage sale is reading this now, I would just like to say thanks for coming! *************************************************************************************************************************** ***************************************************************************************************************************
Hello everyone! So because of the amount of stuff we have and a very busy schedule we have decided to change the garage sale date to this saturday (May 26, 2012). If after the garage sale we still have enough stuff, we will be having a second garage sale on Saturday, June 2. My address is 342 Glenridge Dr. Waterloo ON. I hope to see you there! *************************************************************************************************************************** ***************************************************************************************************************************
For a while now I have been trying to set up a garage sale to raise some more money. We've had a hard time finding Saturdays when I was available but we finally settled on a date. So, if you are interested, please stop by my house to attend my garage sale! When: Saturday, June 2, 2012 Where: 342 Glenridge Dr. Waterloo, ON All proceeds of the garage sale will be going towards 8500 for Kenya. Can't wait to see you there! *************************************************************************************************************************** ***************************************************************************************************************************
I would like to thank Emily Andrews for donating $40.00 to 8500 for Kenya! I really appreciate it. *************************************************************************************************************************** ***************************************************************************************************************************
Thank you so much to my Mumma for paying for all my mailing and merchandise expenses, and for all the support! No matter how big my goal you never look at me like I'm in too deep. I love you! *************************************************************************************************************************** ***************************************************************************************************************************
Thanks so much to two of my very best friends Ailia Rizvi and John Raymond for each donating $40.00 as my birthday present! Love you guys. *************************************************************************************************************************** So, first of all I would just like to say I LOVE this song. Not because of the catchy tune or the amazing singer who sings it but because of the message. The message talks about how if you want to make a change then do it. Just look at yourself and say “I want to help” and turn your words into action. It’s not that hard, the only thing stopping you is yourself. If you think I can do this you can, if you think I can’t then you can’t. It’s as simple as that. Don’t misunderstand me though, when I talk about confidence and being able to do anything if you put your mind to it I’m not saying that I don’t have my doubts sometimes. I have thought wow $8,500 is a lot of money, but its songs like these that get my head back in the right place. Anyone can make a difference, anyone can help save lives. Another great song that inspires me is “Today I’m Gonna Change the World” by Johnny Reid. Along with “Man in the Mirror” it has a great message and a great artist singing it.
So think about it. Put your words to action and help start a revolution. ***************************************************************************************************************************
Thanks so much to Cord Scott and Elizabeth cox for both donating $25.00 to build a school in Kenya, the Sothern family for donating $150.00, and my very own Nanny and Pocamickey for donating $100.00 for my birthday! *************************************************************************************************************************** ***************************************************************************************************************************
Thank you so much to my dad, Paul Briggs, for donating $200.00, and Monica and Merve Symes for donating $100.00. You guys are leading me another step closer to raising my goal amount of $8,500.00 *************************************************************************************************************************** I have been searching all over the internet for silicone bracelets that I have promised to a lot of you and I am sad to say that I have not yet found a company that produces these bracelets in an ethical way. What my project is about is trying to help these kids and hopefully try to take them out of child labour for school, where they can learn to survive, by buying from a company that is supporting child labour I would be supporting what I am against. So instead I have decided to make my own bracelets from home and send those to you instead. I apologize to those who have been waiting for their bracelets, I will get them to you soon. The World Through the Eyes of a 13-year old that Cares***************************************************************************************************************************
I would like to give a special thank you to Arthur who donated $110.00 and my coach Phil who donated $100.00 ***************************************************************************************************************************
Thank you so much to my Auntie Kristen who donated $50.00 and to Darrin who donated $20.00 *************************************************************************************************************************** I recently finished the book “The Price of Stones” by Twesigye Jackson Kaguri with Susan Urbanek Linville. “The Price of Stones” is an inspiring story of a man named Twesigye Jackson who loses several of his family and friends to HIV/AIDS. He’s not the only one. All over the country of Uganda thousands of people are dying from HIV/AIDS every day. Children’s parents are dying, leaving them alone on the streets without an education to fend for themselves. Instead of mourning his lost relatives he decided to take his experiences and turn them into inspiration. He decided to build a school in the village he grew up in for HIV/AIDS orphans with no tuition, books, or uniform fees. Twesigye, who grew up with an education and now lives in the US, spends a great amount of his own money for the school, yet although American money is worth far more than the Ugandan money, it still wasn’t enough. He worked hard finding sponsors and raising awareness for the school he names Nyaka and eventually it all pays off.
I strongly recommend reading this amazing book, not only for the pleasure of a great book, but for the inspirational story that will make you want to help! The book is about his journey through the tough process of funding and building a school in Uganda. Reading this story really made me connect to Twesigye’s feelings on the frustrations that come with raising a lot of money, but for me I was able to read this book and realize that it IS possible and that really renews my hope. *************************************************************************************************************************** Thanks to Veronique and Kelly for donating to $8500 for Kenya! *************************************************************************************************************************** When I first heard of the camp Take Action Academy I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to learn about the issues in the world and build on my leadership skills in a fun way. What I didn’t know was that I would bond so well with all of the others and become so close to everyone I met. At Take Action Academy I learned so much about the issues in the world and made unforgettable friendships. Everyone there was just so amazing and I felt like I could tell them anything. I felt comfortable to speak in front of everyone even though at school I can barely speak in front of my class. No one is there to judge you. It’s the absolute perfect environment to learn more about our world and how we can change it. I will never forget each and every one of the experiences because they were all amazing. I could challenge myself without getting frustrated. I could be myself. The facilitators made the camp better than ever. They’re not just there to teach us about the problems. They’re there to learn themselves, teach us how we can fix these problems and make friends with us. Even now I’m still in contact with two of them and miss them all so much. I can’t wait to return next summer, and I strongly recommend to everybody within the age range. From this camp I have learned that I CAN take action and make a difference. This camp has helped me get to where I am today.
*************************************************************************************************************************** THANKS TO my Aunt Lyndsay, Uncle Dave, Emily and Christina for donating to $8500 for Kenya! *************************************************************************************************************************** In school we are learning about global issues and my teacher showed us this video. In this video they split the screen in half and on one half show the average day of a boy like us and on the other half what the average day of a boy who is forced into child labour would look like. I think that whoever made this video did an amazing job at comparing the lives of the two boys. It really shows us how much of a more we have then those in other parts of the world and gets people to want to help change that. The best part of the video is at the very end when the boy on the right takes his shoes off and the boy on the right places the exact same shoe on the table after he finished making it. It’s sending out the clear message that the small things we take for granted cost a lot more than we actually realize. So I challenge everyone to start thinking about all this stuff we take for granted and where it might have come from. Start, or if you have already started then continue, to appreciate all of things you have because someone spent a lot of time and effort making things for us.
*************************************************************************************************************************** We are the World February 26, 2012I really enjoyed listening to this song, not only because of the catchy tune but because of the inspiring lyrics. Lyrics such as “We are the ones that make a brighter day so let’s start giving,” and “We’re saving our own lives, its true we’ll make a brighter day” really get to you when you listen to them. They get you thinking about all that we have that others don’t. Things that we simply take for granted can cost so much more than they are actually worth. And I don’t mean the cost as in money, I mean all the trouble that people go through so they can get what they need by providing us with our desires that we really don’t. Like the song says “We are the world, we are the children,” we need to start caring about the other parts of our world. No world can be perfect with more than half of it barely surviving and needing our help. We are all capable of great things and I know if we all care and set our minds to it we CAN help our world become a better place.
************************************************************************************************************************** Because I am a Girl!Watching this video really made me tear up over the fact that this could actually be happening in the world. Being a girl myself, I do know that there is a lot of sexism around the world, even at my own school. Just a simple comment on how “he’s a boy, he can do it better,” still hurts. Which gets me thinking… if it hurts when something so simple and ignorable is said, then how must it feel to go through life with a great deal of extra struggles just because you were born a girl? I, and everyone else reading this right now, will never be able imagine in the slightest way, what it must feel and be like to be one of these girls.
By raising this money to build a school I will be giving at least a few more girls the opportunity to not have to go through as many of these struggles. Please watch this video to kind of get an idea of what these girls suffer through just because of their gender. |
My StoryHow Can You Help?$8,500!! WE DID IT!Donate $10 - $24.99
I will send you a personal thank you postcard in the mail. (remember to leave me your address in the comment section) Donate $25 - $64.99 I will send you a homemade bracelet with the Kenya colours and a personal thank you postcard in the mail (remember to leave me your address in the comment section) Donate $65 - $149.99 I will send you a Rakiki friend chain, a personal thank you postcard in the mail and a silicone bracelet with "I am the change I wish to see" on it. (remember to leave me your address in the comment section) Donate $150 - $349.99 I will send you a "Thank you for being the change" mug and post a special personalized thank you video on this website. I will also send you a personal thank you postcard in the mail. Donate $350 or more If you live in the Waterloo Region (or Southern New Brunswick) Symplicity Photography and Design will give you a free one hour family photoshoot (with developed images on CD and a video slideshow to your favourite song) and I will send you a personal thank you postcard in the mail. OR A Rakiki friend Chain, a homemade bracelet with the Kenya colours and a personal mention on my website for your business or family, a personalized thank your video and a thank you postcard. (remember to leave me your address in the comment section) and a silicone bracelet with "Ghandi Quote" on it. Donate Securely with PAYPAL NOW |