Sometimes without looking for it, you stumble upon something really neat.

My husband and I were traveling for short time through Laos and we were handed a flyer on the street.  After following a simple map on the flyer, we ended up at a simple little bar/resturant in the middle of what seemed to be a construction zone.

After speaking with the Lara, the owner and one of the visionaries of the project, we came to understand that this was a special group of people helping people. (Which happens to be the entire basis for this website).  The Kajsiab Project was established as a way for volunteers to leave a positive mark on Laos while visiting.  People from all over the world, who are stopping in this particular spot for a couple of days are asked to help build housing (in our case a huge mud hut) to be used as future accommodation of the local women in need. In exchange for this helping hand, volunteers get food and accommodation as well as an invaluable cultural exchange with locals and people from other countries who have come to be a part of this project.

Kajsiab means: a flower that blooms, a heart that opens, a love that suddenly springs, the name of a beloved sister who died a preventable death due to a minor infection. This project is founded in her honour to reduce poverty, raise social capital, and provide a culturally sensitive education necessary to bring health to the community in which she lived.

Kajsiab also aims to work together with several villages toward establishing a women’s health clinic, a traditional collective herb garden, and a school for the seven villages in the area.

If you are in Northern Laos, it is so worth stopping in to lend a hand at this great project.  Or if manual labour is not your thing, pass by for a drink or some food and take a look at the local handicrafts made by the women in the rural areas that are on sale.

For more details and photos, go to http://www.projectkajsiablaos.org/ of look for them on Facebook. (Kajsiab Project)

We were really glad that we had the opportunity to help out here.  All the best to our friends at the Kajsiab Project.

Just as Christmas is a special holiday for Western children, the Spring Festival is a magical time for Chinese children.  They look forward to the gathering of family members, feasting, visiting friends and relatives, and receiving gifts.  However, there are many children in Shanghai, whose families cannot afford to give them new clothes or toys.  Schools and businesses purchase small gifts to fill gift bags with a little child in mind.

Shanghai-Singapore International School adopted 1001 bags and delivered them to a school in need. It was a great day for staff, students and the children who received gifts.  Similar projects all over the world help to spread the true meaning and joy  that comes with Christmas. It was neat to watch the kids open those gifts.   For more information visit www.communitycenter.cn/outreach.  

Giving someone a special gift like this can be done on a small scale too.  Find someone in your neighborhood who you could use a special gift and pack up a small bag for them.  I bet it will be a little moment of this particular Christmas that both of you will not forget.

 The students, staff and community of Abraham Erb Public School in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada helped sponsor the education of a teacher in the village of Mafay in Sierra Leone. Abraham Erb is made up of students from Junior Kindergarten to Grade 6.

Each class held class meetings and brainstormed ways that they could help raise the $ 2000.00 necessary to pay for the education of a teacher. The projects were very diverse ( garage sale, hot chocolate sales, extra family chores, bake sales, usedbook sale). The focus of the initiative was to create a student owned and operated service learning project (Children Helping Children). The ‘Footprints To Sierra Leone’ campaign ran for the entire year. The results surpassed our goals by over$1500.00. The additional money was used to make donations to various schools and projects in Sierra Leone.

The students also created a wish list of items they would like the students in Sierra Leone to have such as soccer balls and school supplies.   Teacher Mike Beetham was able to hand deliver the items to various schools in Sierra Leone as well as visit and meet the community in Mafay in the summer of 2011.  Through the use of photographs and video he was able to share with his school community the work they had accomplished and the greetings from the people of Mafay.

Great Work  Staff and Students at Abraham Erb!!! Your efforts will live on.

For the past three years, students and staff at St. Bonaventure School in Edmonton, Canada have been using creative ways to offer financial support to provide children in India with clean water. Here’s how the amazing group of students and teachers are doing it:

Under the title “India Water Project,” the school has thrown out the challenge to students to find creative ways to fundraise, and the new ideas continue to keep rolling despite it being the school’s third year with the program. One example, under the guidance of teacher extraordinaire Nella Bruni, is something the students call “Water Wednesdays.” In year one, the program was designed to have students go around with plant watering jugs to each class to collect donations during each Wednesday of Lent. In year two, the project grew when students set up their instruments to busk at Parent Teacher conferences. Parents happily tossed coins and bills in their collection containers that evening. Students raised enough money to buy filters for 21 homes that night.

It is this combination of creative yet simple projects like these that has students planning and carrying out social justice programs that is bringing clean water and a better chance of staying healthy to students and families thousands of miles away.

There are things about you that are amazing- it’s okay to say so.  Love Day is about celebrating yourself. It is about not getting wrapped up in what you don’t like about yourself but rather what you do like. It’s what makes being you so great!  The video gives a short description of the special Love Day Project put on by two senior school students and their friends at SSIS.

Check it out.

Canadian School organizes a fundraiser to purchase Bio-Sand filters for people in India who do not have daily access to clean water. 

The social justice theme last year at Cardinal Leger Catholic Junior High School  was “Living Water.”   As part of their theme for the year, teacher Mark Harcanka and his Advanced Placement class at this Canadian School  planned and organized an event in an effort to bring awareness and financial assistance to people who need clean water.  Making the event even more impressive, they planned a way to use what they were learning in school to help others across the world.

Walking hours a day to access clean water is a reality for many women and young girls in developing countries.  For many, the time it takes to get water for the family is the reason that they are unable attend school.  Some girls walk up to 6 hours a day hauling water home for their family.

Here is Cardinal Leger’s story:

“We organized a ‘Water Haul-A-Thon’ which took one week to complete.  In addition to completing the physical challenge of moving the water,  we were mathematically challenged to make calculations on the distance travelled, number of trips, number of cupfuls and other data. We calculated that it would take 3333 cupfuls or trips which meant 111 trips per student in our class of 30.  The total distance travelled to complete the water transfer was 16.6 kilometers total or 555 meters per student.  We also calculated that at a constant rate the task would take 166 minutes or 2.7 hours for our class of 30 students. Students were sponsored for the being able to complete the task.

All monies that were raised will be donated to ‘Canadian Water Works’.  Canadian Water Works is a non-profit organization that is dedicated to improving the lives of people in developing countries through clean water and community development.   Our class raised a total of $1125.000 .”

This classroom project raised enough money to buy 32 water filters for people in India.  That is 32 families that will no longer worry about dying from a water-borne illness. Way  to go Cardinal Leger!!

“Remember
the Hungry”

As we know, hunger is a
prevalent global issue which has been around for as long as we can remember.
However, it is perhaps because of this very familiarity, coupled with the buzz
of our fast-paced lives which has led to many of us knowing, but not really thinking about the hungry and maybe even
becoming somewhat less caring towards their situation.

Hunger exists in the
world today, not because of a universal lack of food, but rather, due to
inefficient sharing of food. To raise awareness for the world’s hungry, and to
encourage members of the school to stop, think about and remember the hungry of the world, we initiated an event titled “Remember the
Hungry”. On the 27^th October 2011, a simple fare consisting of only
porridge and bread was served to the senior school. Symbolically reducing our food portion
served as an act of acknowledgement of the world’s hungry, and would also,
hopefully, induce more thought and reflection about the current food crisis.
Participants were given a sticker in the shape of a grain, and were asked to
write their names on it or to add in any well wishes they wanted to convey.

As for junior school
students, we set up a face-painting booth for two days of the week. The Pan
Africa flag was painted on faces and hands in support of the hungry in the Horn
of Africa. Primary fives and sixes and invited to join in the porridge-eating
event as well.

Since the main aim of
this project was to raise awareness and encourage greater action to be taken,
we tried to convey this through other means. One way was to conduct
presentations to members of the school, sharing information about world hunger.
These presentations included information on the reasons behind the food crisis,
and how we could play a part in helping the needy. Besides putting up posters
in various parts of the school compound, there were exhibition boards placed
outside the dining area to shed more light on the issue at hand.

This event was carried out in
support of the World Food Programme (WFP). Proceeds collected from voluntary
donations will go to the WFP, and will be donated to areas where the need is
greatest, primarily the Horn of Africa.

Jasmine and Hillary
Shanghai, China

I always think that it is amazing when people take initiative to do MORE than just hang out for a summer.  I think it is really cool that this grade 11 boy and his friends went after a less relaxing and more meaningful summer trip.  One that I am sure they will remember for the rest of their lives. Nice one. 

Over to you Ryan…

In the summer of 2011, friends of mine decided that we wanted to volunteer this summer.  So, 15 of us from Tunghai Church flew to Chiang Mai, en route to our final destination, Meng Na village.

Meng Na village is a rural mountain area, with very poor conditions.  This was a very new experience for me.  Because of being in a remote village, we had to shower with very limited water and we had very little electricity to work with. We volunteered with the children in this village for a total of 8 days.  Each day, we became more and more attached to the small kids.  We prepared dramas for them, and attempted to teach the older kids some Chinese.   We worked with 95 children in total.  In the evenings, the team of us would get together and plan the activities for the next day. We visited the children’s houses and their family and brought them gifts. Spending time with their families was a very great experience. 

I learned a lot from working with these kids and volunteering in this village.  

Ryan Hsiang,

Shanghai 

 Hey WE Stand community!

 Thanks for all of the great emails of encouragement about the site. I would love for you to comment on-line next time to share with the rest of the community…. come on… don’t be shy. So, it’s your turn now. I shared the first story of positive change with TMT and what he is doing in Africa, and there is more to come, but it’s time for the rest of the WE Stand community to get involved. Tell us what you are up to. I know there are a lot of people out there doing some great  things for others and we would love  for you to share your stories. Email me when you have a plan and we will feature your project. Really looking forward to hearing from all of you!

- Carla