…more on Empathy.

Friday night I camped out at the school with 49 students, each raising a minimum of $50- to earn the opportunity to sleep over at the school. We hosted a 24 hour famine to raise money for our Me to We Club… we are fundraising to build a school in Sierra Leone.

It was fun, and it was exhausting! Three and a half hours of broken sleep… and totally worth it! Some things didn’t quite go as planned, but overall it was a huge success. I’ve done many 30 Hour Famine‘s for World Vision, but this year I wanted the fundraiser to coincide with our school goal of $15,000.00 to build and help supply the Sierra Leone school. The famine itself is a great way to give the students an experience that many kids around the world are ‘inflicted’ with: Hunger!

So, I could go on about the kids that snuck junk food in, and indulged… or how these same girls were disrespectful to the female teacher that helped me out, (something I still have to follow up on Monday), but instead, I want to highlight empathy and compassion. So, enjoy a few tales of the next generation doing good.

Callie: She didn’t collect any money. I saw her leaving the school on Friday and said to her, “I thought this would be something that you would want to do?” Her response: “I wanted to Mr. Truss but I just couldn’t ask anyone else for money.” You see, we just finished a fundraiser selling boxes of chocolate bars – 15 bars in a box, $30 a box. My class sold 16 boxes, Callie on her own sold 22. I gave her a permission slip and where it said ‘you must collect a minimum of $50-’ I added “^ or sell 22 boxes of chocolates… Wow!” You should have been there to see the smile on her face.

Reed: (He sold two boxes of chocolates) “Mr. Truss, I can’t ask anyone else for a donation, I’m just going to donate $50 myself so that I can come. I can afford it.” He ended up donating $85… basically he got $35 in pledges but kept his personal donation at 50.

Sadey and Misha: For the second year in a row they raised $150 each. While some students just got their parents to write a cheque for $50, these girls collected money 1, 2 or 5 dollars at a time.

Braden: As he handed me his required $50 on Wednesday, “I don’t get paid until the weekend, can I donate more after the famine?”

Nicole and Ian: They couldn’t sleep over at the school, but still chose to collect money anyway.

Alexandra: We only had one grade 6 girl in attendance. I saw Alexandra from my (Grade class talking to her when everyone was arriving. I asked her if she new the girl and she said yes. I said do you mind making sure this girl feels included? Her response, “Oh, of course!”

Andy & Carleigh: They are the backbone to our Me to We club. They both plan to go to the Leaders Today Take Action! Academy this summer run by Free the Children. They are two young kids who are thoughtful and compassionate. They are, and they will continue, making the world a better place!

Empathy may not be part of the curriculum, but it certainly can be encouraged in school… by teachers and students alike!

Prelude
Two Brothers, Craig and Marc Kielburger, are my modern day heroes.
Tonight Marc is having dinner with Oprah Winfrey. The brothers’ US office is hosted by Oprah. They have had an audience with Mother Teresa. They have been featured on Oprah, CNN, CBC, BBC, and 60 Minutes. They are sought after speakers that have shared the podium a number of times with former U.S. president Bill Clinton, as well as with such world renowned leaders as Nelson Mandela, Queen Noor, Archbishop Desmond Tutu and the Dalai Lama.
But that is not why they are heroes to me.

Take the fame (and the accolades mentioned below) away, and they are still my heroes: Two brothers under 30 years old. Many of their accomplishments began when they were well under 20. In fact, they began to change the world when they were 11 and 13 years of age.

Craig and Marc are the founders of Me to We and Free the Children, the largest organization in the world of children helping children. They inspire kids to “Be the Change”, to make a meaningful difference in the world… and their army of inspired kids have benefited over 1/2 a million needy people in the world… WOW!

Helping Others
I heard Marc speak (for the second time) on Friday. After his talk, he spoke with students and teachers from our school. Our Me to We club is raising money for Free the Children. Under the direction of a teacher, Sarah, our students have raised over $9,000 so far. My 24 Hour Famine/Sleep-Over at the school will raise another 2-3 thousand, and yet another teacher Chris will make at least that much with Freezie sales as the weather warms up.

Last year we bought goats to give families an income and thus help students go to school. This year we are raising money to build a school in Sierra Leone. Sarah wanted to raise between 10 and 15 thousand. Thanks to countless students, their families and all of our staff, it looks like we will surpass that!

In the service of others we learn meaningful lessons ourselves. Mark spoke of developing empathy in kids. In so doing, he wondered if standardized testing ‘taught’ our kids anything meaningful? When do they learn about empathy and love?

They learn this from being in the servicing of others. Listening to Marc, a true hero, has taught me something very valuable.

Helping Me, and My Family
Every night when I put my kids to bed I ask them a question… “What was your favorite part of the day?” My kids will often offer up a list. My oldest daughter is very compassionate, she makes an effort to mention at least one event in which my wife or I are in one of her favorite parts of the day. My younger daughter meanders a bit… she is still learning… sometimes she has a list, sometimes her favorite is tempered with, “But you know what I didn’t like about today?”

When I heard Mark speak, I wondered about another question I have stopped asking: “What did you learn today?” I also thought of the question my friend Mike asks his (older) kids: “What questions did you ask today?” … this is a better question than ‘what did you learn?’, but not one that inspires meaningful answers from my Grade 2 child… even less from my preschooler. After listening to mark, I decided on a new question:

“Who did you help today?”

It is simple. It inspires empathy. It shows what we truly value… and I look forward to the day when my daughters ‘favorite part of the day’ is also the answer to ‘who did you help today’.

My Heroes

Thanks for the inspiration Mark!

Please take the time to find out more about my heroes. Or better yet, GET INVOLVED !

Marc is a Harvard graduate and Rhodes Scholar, who graduated magna cum laude from Harvard University. He, “has been recognized for his vision and leadership with Canada’s Top 40 Under 40 award and has received an Ashoka Fellowship for his innovation and commitment to social change. He is the youngest person ever to be awarded the Ontario Medal for Good Citizenship and is the recipient of an honorary doctorate of education from Nipissing University for his work in leadership development. Marc has been honoured as a 2007 Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum.”

Craig “has received many awards for his work, including the Nelson Mandela Human Rights Award, the World Economic Forum GLT Award, the Roosevelt Freedom Medal, the Governor General’s Medal of Meritorious Service, the Human Rights Award from the World Association of Non-Governmental Organizations and the World’s Children’s Prize for the Rights of the Child, also known as the Children’s Nobel Prize.” Oh, and Craig is also a 2002 and 2003 Nobel Peace Prize nominee. He is a Megastar. (Read this last link to learn about Craig’s inspiration, and a hero in his own right, Iqbal Masih 1982-1995.)

Free the Children has recently been awarded one of ten Million-Dollar Awards from the Skoll Foundation.

Images by carf on flickr. Imprisoned… & Children of the World Unite – I (see comments in my reflection)