My Time CARE-ing: Files, Stats and Important Questions

Guest blog post by Danika Ellson about her experience working at CARE Canada. Danika is an EDC employee who has been working for CARE as part of a partnership program established between our two organizations.

Four years ago, Export Development Canada (EDC) and CARE Canada signed a partnership agreement that would volunteer four EDC staff a year to various posts within CARE.  This agreement comes out of a bigger initiative for EDC to be a leader in corporate social responsibility, and demonstrate their commitment to supporting the communities in which we live and work.  This year, I got my opportunity to apply for one of the positions. 

Walk In Her Shoes

By guest blogger Heather Barnabe, Senior Officer, Ambassador Relations & Events, CARE Canada

If you have been reading the CARE Canada blog, you are well aware of CARE Canada’s innovative Walk In Her Shoes campaign. For those of you new to the blog, Walk In Her Shoes challenges people to simulate the experiences of women and girls living in developing nations by walking 8,000 steps a day for 8 days, while raising funds and awareness.

The campaign started more than two months ago and since then, we’ve heard from participants across the country who have taken Walk In Her Shoes to the next level.

On Sunday, May 20th, Sarah Jamieson will run 101km in 6km (8,000-step) intervals over the span of 14 hours.

The Sole Sisters, a team of mothers and daughters, committed to walking 87,500 steps each over a challenge period of 14 days. To meet their goal, they walked every evening to pick up their daughters from school, a return trip estimated at 7km. Maria Calleja ,the Sole Sisters team captain, exclaimed how excited the daughters especially were to participate in the walk.

Staff at CI Investment loved the challenge so much they returned again this year. Investing their break times and lunches for eight days to take on the WIHS challenge, they raised over $3,000.

Staff at CI Investment invested their break times and lunches for eight days to take on the WIHS challenge.

And there’s still more exciting events coming up! This Sunday, runner (and superhero!) Sarah Jamieson will run 101km in 6km (8,000-step) intervals over the span of 14 hours.  Very passionate about raising awareness, Sarah is holding a ‘Documentary Screening and Salon Conversation’ event to fundraise towards her WIHS goal.

Tunchai Redvers, a participant from Yellowknife, will be carrying buckets of water for 8,000 steps for 8 days. She is pulling together her community in Yellowknife to walk around Frame Lake in solidarity with women and girls around the world.

There’s still time to get involved! Sign up now at care.ca/walkinhershoes!

A Mother and Daughter Walk In Her Shoes Together

Guest bloggers Sara Parkes (left) and Lorraine Sheffield (right) discuss why they decided to Walk In Her Shoes.

A daughter’s perspective: Sara
A recent trip to Cambodia inspired me to help in some way. The poverty was unlike anything I had ever seen before – women with toddlers sleeping in doorways, children selling sunglasses to tourists instead of going to school.

It gave me a lot of hope to see non-profit organizations I recognized, like CARE, active on the ground. I’ve since found out that CARE specifically focuses on human rights, education, rural development and health in Cambodia.

The experience reminded me of how lucky we are in Canada and how actions and donations that seem small to us really can make a difference in developing communities.

After returning, I’ve been inspired to get involved in some way. The Walk In Her Shoes campaign is an excellent opportunity to do just that.

My mother Lorraine and I will be walking 8,000 steps for eight days leading up to Mother’s Day. My mother lives in Toronto and I’m in Ottawa, but although we are separated by 400 km, we are both very excited to raise money to empower mothers and daughters in developing communities.

It will be an absolute pleasure to walk with my mother – who has always supported me through everything – to raise money to support women and girls, both in Cambodia and all over the world.

A mother’s perspective: Lorraine
When my daughter Sara was born 28 years ago, I was committed to do whatever it took to support and help her succeed in life. It wasn’t always easy. There were times when I worked three jobs and times I didn’t work at all. But Sara never woke to a day without food in the fridge or water at her fingertips. Necessary eye glasses, dental and medical care were always available. She played baseball and soccer, went to summer camp, travelled and had girly sleepovers with her friends. She was healthy, blessed to wake up safe and warm in her own bed every morning, go to good schools and just be a kid.

There was never any question that she would go on to university and I was so very proud of us both when she graduated from Carleton and went on to follow her professional dreams. We were a team and we made it!

When I think of so many other mothers in this world, I know in my heart that they love and want no less for their children. Unfortunately, their reality is so very different than mine. Is it even fair to compare my challenges to the struggles thousands of women go through every day just for the basics to survive?

The day Sara asked if I wanted to participate in this challenge there was so much enthusiasm in her voice that I just had to say yes. What better way could there be for us to celebrate what we have as a mother/daughter team than to walk to support other women – mothers and daughters just like us, but struggling to live in conditions we can’t begin to imagine?

While Sara will do most of her walking in Ottawa, I will be doing my part of the challenge in downtown Toronto. We hope to meet on Mother’s Day to do the last steps together.

Wave or honk if you see me crossing the Bloor viaduct in my Walk In Her Shoes t-shirt, plugged into my favourite ‘70s and 80s music – and taking steps to make a difference.

To support Lorraine and Sara as they Walk In Her Shoes, visit their CARE Canada fundraising page.

Why do we Walk In Her Shoes?

 

By guest blogger Heather Barnabe, Senior Officer, Ambassador Relations & Events, CARE Canada

Since January, CARE has been calling all Canadians to join Walk In Her Shoes – a challenge to walk 8,000 steps for eight days while raising funds for CARE projects that provide clean water and sanitation, education and health care for women and girls in developing countries.

But why Walk In Her Shoes? As a leading international humanitarian organization that is fighting global poverty in over 80 countries, we know first hand that women and girls have to walk great distances to collect water, firewood and other basic necessities. This time-consuming activity keeps them from attending school, accessing health care and earning money.

This past winter, I reached out to my colleagues around the world to tell me a bit about the women and girls CARE empowers and what kind of walking they must do daily to survive.

Meet Susan, Hamné and Yusina

Susan in Zimbabwe used to walk over four hours for clean water. Learn how CARE helped Susan and her young daughter walk fewer steps each day to access fresh, clean water for her family.

Hamné in Chad walks 9,000 steps a day to collect water and help with cattle. Learn how CARE is providing an education and brighter future for Hamné, a Sudanese refugee living in CARE’s Touloum refugee camp in Chad.

Yusina in Indonesia walks 10,000 steps to collect water for her family. Learn how CARE helped Yusina spend less time waiting for water, and more time earning an income and spending time with her family.

CARE could not do the work that it does without support from Canadians like you. Interested in supporting our work to empower women and girls like Susan, Hamné and Yusina? It’s not too late to join Walk In Her Shoes. Learn more now.

8,000 ways to get out of the office

Guest blog by Laura Nicol, Ambassador Relations and Events Officer for CARE Canada.

With Spring in the air, many organizations across Canada are signing up to participate in Walk In Her Shoes as a way to engage their employees in philanthropy while getting a little exercise. With the campaign ongoing until the end of May, there is still plenty of time to get a team signed up and walking.

I asked the captain of our TEC Canada corporate team, Kerra McEwan, why her and her office signed up to walk 8,000 steps a day for 8 days for Walk In Her Shoes.

How did you get involved with CARE?
It all started around this time last year when my boyfriend and I signed up for CARE Canada’s Cycle for CARE Vietnam. At the time, I had heard of CARE and was interested in knowing more about its mission in supporting women, children and communities around the world. As we started fundraising for the cycle trip, I began to truly learn what an amazing organization CARE is, both inside and out. Once in Vietnam, we were privileged to visit a couple of these projects and saw firsthand the tangible differences CARE was making in a community in a remote area on the Cambodian/Vietnamese border.  (I will never forget the warmth and hospitality we received from these people). The experience in Vietnam was one of the best I’ve ever had, and further solidified my appreciation for CARE as a top tier development organization – and one I will always support!

Kerra (midde, center) and the TEC Canada Walk In Her Shoes Team

How did you get your office involved with Walk In Her Shoes?
My co-worker, Romany Rzechowicz, has a good friend who works with CARE, so she is also a frequent supporter. Romany is always aware of the many CARE initiatives going on and suggested we participate in Walk In Her Shoes. I absolutely loved the idea and together decided we’d invite our fellow colleagues to walk with us. The response was overwhelming. Eighteen of a possible 23 TEC Canada employees signed up to walk and committed to fundraising a minimum of $250 each! Kudos to everyone at TEC Canada for their interest and participation!

How has the experience of walking 8,000 steps a day for 8 days been for you and your team?
First off, I have to say, the enthusiasm and energy in our office over the past couple weeks has been spectacular! Everyone has been wearing their pedometers. As a big group, we get out on the pathways along the river for lunchtime excursions. We’ve had strangers look at our t-shirts, even stopping to ask us about Walk In Her Shoes. The weather has been beautiful in Calgary lately, so after a long winter, it’s just nice to get out there and take in some fresh air and chat with co-workers. Walking is also a great way to stay in shape, which aligns with TEC Canada’s own health and wellness initiatives. Altogether, it’s been a great experience and further created camaraderie within our team here at the office. Also, it feels good to not only get out and get some exercise, but to raise awareness and funds for a great cause.

When people ask why you’re walking, what’s their reaction when you tell them?
People are fascinated when you tell them what Walk In Her Shoes is all about. It’s such an innovative campaign – because it’s an individual goal you’ve set for yourself to walk the 8,000 steps a day. In our case, we’re also participating within a team setting. And then to know there are thousands of other Canadians also walking and fundraising at the same time. It’s pretty powerful stuff to have so many people come together with the same goal for the same cause! So explaining that to others when they ask, whether family, friends, or even strangers, is really great. The response so far has been really positive.

Thanks Kerra! TEC Canada has raised over $1000 already and is well on their way to their team goal of $3700! They also tracked their steps and had amazing results – collectively, the 18 members of Team TEC officially took over 1,152,000 steps for CARE’s Walk in Her Shoes – that amounts to approximately 895 kilometers! Well done TEC Canada.

Hearing about Walk In Her Shoes for the first time?
No problem! You can still join thousands of Canadians taking the challenge. Registration for Walk In Her Shoes is open to anyone interested in walking 8,000 steps a day for 8 days to empower women and girls in the developing world.

Walk In Her Shoes brings us a little closer to the women and girls it helps empower – individuals who must walk this distance every day to gather basic amenities to support their families. Learn more at care.ca

We’ve started our Walk In Her Shoes Challenge. When will you start yours?

Yesterday, on International Women’s Day, staff at CARE Canada walked 8,000 steps as part of our Walk In Her Shoes campaign. The day was windy and ever so slightly chilly, but the walk was refreshing. As staff members donned their Walk In Her Shoes shirts and clipped on their pedometers, we set out along Ottawa’s Hunt Club Road.

Everyone was in high spirits, feeling pride in what we were doing. As cars honked and people waved in support, it helped encourage the walkers to pick up the pace.

Many Canadians across the country have started their eight-day walking challenge. They have tweeted about it, and shared photos with us. Check out the students at Woodroffe High School in Ottawa!

Walk In Her Shoes is a CARE campaign that asks Canadians to personally challenge themselves to walk 8,000 steps for 8 days while raising money to help empower women and girls in the developing world.  There is still plenty of time to sign-up, and the best part is that it’s a personal challenge so participants have the flexibility to start when it works best for them. The days are getting longer and warmer, so why not sign-up and start today!

Join Walk In Her Shoes now! It’s a great way to shake off the winter blues and get outside, and (even better!) a great way to help make a difference in the lives of women, girls and their families around the world.

Walk In Her Shoes in your city!

Register now for Walk In Her Shoes!

• Walk 8,000 steps per day for 8 days
• Raise money for a great cause
• Empower women and girls to lift themselves out of poverty

A woman in the developing world walks an average of 6 km a day to gather the things she needs to keep her family alive. To give you an idea of what that would mean in your city, we’ve mapped out a few routes for cities across Canada.

Calgary
Start off at the Scotiabank Saddledome and head to Chinook Centre.

Halifax
Begin your 6 km challenge at Dalhousie University and head to Prince George Hotel, and don’t forget to walk back!

Montreal
Your Walk In Her Shoes challenge could easily take you from Place des Arts to Mount Royal Park.

Ottawa
Enjoy a pleasant walk from Parliament Hill to Billings Bridge.

Toronto
Your walk will take you from one landmark to another and back again — CN tower to Dundas Square.

Vancouver
Enjoy the view on a 6 km walk on the seawall.

Is your city or town not included? Let us know what 6km looks like where you live!

Welcome Kim D’Eon!

By guest blogger Kathy Wong, CARE Canada’s Ambassador Relations and Events Manager. Kathy leads a team of dedicated CARE staff who manage fundraising events and campaigns, as well as the CARE Ambassadors of Change program.

I often tell friends and family that I have an amazing job. Not only am I part of an organization doing good work, which gives me a sense of purpose, but I’m in the company of passionate people who inspire me to be a better person. As the Manager of the Ambassador Relations and Events team at CARE, one of my roles is to seek out and form partnerships with powerful Canadians. Our new CARE Ambassador of Change, Kim D’Eon, is one of those amazing Canadians.

Kim is an award winning reporter who is currently enjoying her sixth season on Entertainment Tonight Canada. Over the past few months I’ve had the chance to get to know Kim personally. I asked her why she decided to partner with CARE and she pointed to two aha moments in her life.  The first happened at the age of 12, when Kim tackled a fairly hefty subject for a school project – violence against women. This experience opened her eyes to a world of injustice – she was outraged and felt compelled to share her knowledge. This led her to a public speaking competition, and eventually a degree in journalism and a career as a reporter. The second moment happened on the other side of the world. Watch Kim describe it herself:

Kim is passionate about spreading the word about empowerment, in particular to young girls across Canada. Through her partnership with CARE, Kim has been given the opportunity to do just that. She is a spokesperson for CARE’s signature campaign Walk In Her Shoes. Last week, she made a special appearance at Elmwood School in Ottawa to officially kick off Elmwood’s 2012 campaign efforts. Speaking at a school assembly, Kim inspired the girls to think big, to embrace who they are and to realize that at no matter their age they have a voice and can make a difference.

Kim D'Eon speaks to a group of girls at Elmwood School in Ottawa following the school assembly.

To learn more about CARE’s ambassadors and the Walk In Her Shoes campaign visit www.care.ca.