Youth Changing the World School Program
Youth Changing the World (YCW) is an educational program created by SOPAR offered in Canadian Schools since 1999.
It is a transformative learning experience in international cooperation that awakens students to the realities faced by the most disempowered people on the other side of the world and empowers them to take concrete actions that respond to their most urgent needs.
We provide teachers with all the tools and support they need to involve, inspire and engage their students in awareness and fundraising activities in the context of a solidarity initiative in rural India.
By inviting their students to participate in the program teachers are capitalizing on youth’s eagerness and capacity to be part of the solutions, through concrete, sustainable and life-changing projects. The multiple and immediate transformative results they achieve through their collaborative solidarity efforts awakens them to their power to really “change the World”.
Through the “Youth Changing the World” program, thousands of young Canadians, under the guidance of their teachers, acquire altruistic values that will stay with them into adulthood.
READY FOR ACTION?
- STEP ONE: Choose your project
- STEP TWO: Register
- STEP THREE: Plan and Organize
By focusing on values and education and nurturing personal, intellectual and social growth, YCM offers a formative, exciting and memorable adventure. Your students will:
- Explore universal values such as empathy, equity, tolerance and solidarity
- Appreciate the inner feeling of satisfaction born from an act of altruism
- Develop their creativity, emotional intelligence and a sense of purpose
- Become aware of the real life conditions of those they help
- Discover and appreciate new cultures and develop their openness to the world
- Learn to build collaborative relationships
Practice sharing and mutual support - Develop critical thinking, problem-solving and analytical skills
- Experience teamwork focused on a common cause
- Reinforce their self-confidence and their capacity to make a difference in the world.
RESOURCES
Looking to get your students involved in a project that will enable them to make a real difference in the world?
REGISTER YOUR SCHOOL TODAY!
Since its inception in 1999, close to 750 schools across Canada have participated in this innovative program. That’s over 1,35 million dollars raised and close to 310,000 of India’s poorest women, children and communities that have gained access to clean drinking water thanks to the efforts of 72 000 young canadian students.
“SOPAR-Bala Vikasa’s Youth Changing the World school program allowed me to develop team spirit and leadership. It gave me confidence to overcome my shyness. I felt privileged to work with people for a magnificent cause. I now realize that we can have a positive influence on the lives of thousands of people who live far away from us and that giving back is the greatest gift in the world.”
-Anne Siobhan Rousseau- student (Quebec)
”The YCW Program is an incredible and concrete opportunity for our students to open up to our world and realize the strength of solidarity. My students were profoundly touched to see the photos of the water well built because of their efforts. They understood that their work had a real impact. I think they will become better citizens because of YCW.”
– Brenda Scarlett – teacher (Ontario).
Watch the video – students of De Rochebelle High School in Quebec City visited their water well project in India
