PWRDF Changes Lives… Even my Own!

By Tessa Dudley, former Youth Council Member at Large, originally posted August 15, 2016

In May 2016, I ended my time on the PWRDF Youth Council. I started this journey five years ago after attending a youth leaders’ training week called Common Ground in London, ON. At Common Ground I was approached by a Youth Council member who said, “Hey, you’re from BC and you’re a youth, you should apply for the Youth Council!”

I was so surprised! How did I, being a first year university student from a small town in BC, qualify to be on a National Youth Council? To shorten the story, I applied and joined the Youth Council in the fall of 2011 and have never regretted that decision. When sharing PWRDF’s partner’s stories, we continuously say, “PWRDF changes lives.” Little did I know when joining the Youth Council, that my life would also be changed.

During my time on the Youth Council I learned about relief and development. I learned that our partners must be the ones to determine what is needed for their community. Our partners are the experts, and our job is to support them to the best of our ability.

I learned about resiliency. Our partners and the people they serve are truly resilient. In Canada and throughout the world I have met people who define what it means to be resilient. In situations where their culture, language and way of being have been torn from them, they remain strong and continuously work towards a better future.

I recently visited one of our partner organizations, Kanien’kehá:ka Onkwawén:na Raotitióhkwa Language and Cultural Center (KORLCC). KORLCC is located in Kahnawà:ke a small Mohawk community near Montreal and one thing they focus on is reclaiming language. Their students devote two years of full-time study to reclaim and learn their own language of Mohawk, a language in which only a select few Elders still speak. The students devote this time so that one day their children may be able to be first language speakers of Mohawk.

I learned that we are all connected. Although our daily lives may look a bit different, youth in Canada share many similarities with youth around the world. We are all striving towards a better future and touching lives on this journey. We are the present and the future. We are here to learn and grow and hopefully, one day, make a difference in this beautiful world.

So for all of you young people interested in what it means to volunteer for an organization that changes lives, including the lives of those that volunteer for it, I encourage you to get involved! Whether this means applying to be on the PWRDF Youth Council*, becoming a justgeneration.ca Diocesan Ambassador, or simply sharing PWRDF’s stories with your friends and family. I am truly blessed to have been given this opportunity. Thank you PWRDF and the partners of PWRDF.

*PWRDF is currently looking for new Youth Council members. Applications are due August 28th, 2017. More information on how to apply is found here.