Profiles of Young Global Citizens
This collection showcases a selection of Manitobans who are demonstrating their commitment to global citizenship and doing what they can to build a better world. There are many more Manitobans with stories like these. Perhaps you are one, and if not, you could be—there is always room for more.
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Lieketseng (Keke) Phooko
Lieketseng (Keke) Phooko from Lesotho, is working as a Public Engagement Intern at the Canadian Foodgrains Bank in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Keke gives presentations to schools and community groups on Conservation Agriculture, a farming method that disturbs the soil as little as possible which is particularly important in Lesotho where the soil is easily eroded. In Lesotho, Keke trains farmers and thinks it is a shame that there are not more women farmers, because she has proven that they are just as capable as men. According to Keke, successful Conservation Agriculture will increase food security in her country, so that everyone has enough to eat.
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Matthew Stewart
Matthew Stewart from Winnipeg, Manitoba, helped raise $175,000 while at Kildonan-East Collegiate to build four rainwater harvesting tanks in Karatu, Tanzania as part of the Tanzania 2010 project. Matthew says that this allowed many girls to go to school and therefore live up to their full potential to be the leaders of tomorrow. A recipient of the MCIC Global Citizenship Award for graduating Grade 12 students, Matthew is pleased to see so many young Manitobans making a difference and encourages all young people to get involved in local and international development projects.
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Kevin Huynh & Brendan Yeryk
Kevin Huynh & Brendan Yeryk are Grade 8 students at Frontenac School in Winnipeg, Manitoba. After attending MCIC’s Generating Momentum For Our World: Girls and Boys in the Global Classroom conference, their class wanted to educate the school about why some girls don’t get to go to school in the global south. They planned a whole day of events that the whole school attended, with games to simulate what it is like for some girls who cannot go to school. Kevin and Brendan think that if girls are educated they can go on to improve their lives and the lives of those around them.
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Carly Welham
Carly (17) from Gimli, Manitoba, is a high school student from Gimli, Manitoba. She is Making a Difference by promoting youth voice through the MB 4 Youth Advisory Council as well as working to ensure that young Manitobans’ opinions are represented in local government. Carly founded the ‘Trick or Eat’ campaign in Gimli, encouraging youth in her area to collect cans for food banks on Halloween. The initiative has proven very popular and grown in subsequent years. She proves that even students in high school can involve themselves in their community and work to Make a Difference in our world.
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Tyler Morden
Tyler (23) from Morden, Manitoba, works for the Immigrant and Refugee Community Organization of Manitoba. He is Making a Difference by helping new immigrants integrate into Canadian society, from learning the official languages, to finding a place to live and getting a job. Tyler believes that this Makes a Difference to the whole community, as these people bring with them so much valuable experience and skills. He took his passion overseas working for a WUSC program rehabilitating child soldiers in Sri Lanka. As with all of his development work, Tyler argues that the people whom he helps make as much a difference in his life as he does in theirs.
