This is
Warchild U of A's first year in existence.
Warchild Canada is a registered Canadian
charity and NGO that provides humanitarian assistance for
war-affected children worldwide, as well as spearheading development
projects in countries and regions such as Afghanistan, Iraq
and Sierra Leone. Locally, Warchild Canada reaches out to
youth encouraging them to raise awareness and become involved.
Warchild U of A is a branch of Warchild
Canada that was formed with the intention of raising awareness
and money for Warchild Canada, as well as raising awareness
about international conflict issues. Warchild U of A hopes
specifically to target passionate and motivated students,
as well professors and others interested. Warchild U of A
receives input and support from Warchild Canada, as well as
from University Professors such as Dr Andy Knight and Dr Tom
Keating.
Warchild U of A's mandate is to advance
the cause for peace by raising awareness and concern about
conflict issues, and by supporting the efforts of Warchild
Canada. Warchild U of A's goals for the coming year include
informing more students about Warchild's work and attracting
them to the student group, raising money for future projects
and for Warchild Canada, providing students with an opportunity
to gain leadership skills, and lastly, to raise awareness
about conflict issues including the use of child soldiers
in many developing countries.
Our action plans for this year include raising awareness about
our group, and raising funds for projects in future years.
We are trying to build a solid core group with adequate resources
so that in the coming years, Warchild will be able to organize
large events intended to raise awareness and money, such as
a speaker series and benefit concerts. As well, we would like
to be able to develop a partnership with local schools to
give a presentations to Social Studies classes about war-afflicted
areas.
We have invested part of the Student's Union start-up grant
we received to purchase "warchild" coffee mugs that
are being sold to help raise funds. We are hoping to set up
an information booth each week in various locations around
the university, and around Edmonton, to further inform people
about our group.
The two projects that we would like to focus on this year
are a "Child Soldier for a Day" awareness campaign
and a speaker night. The "Child Soldier for a Day"
campaign would likely be situated on campus and would involve
a massive attempt on a specific day to bring the issue of
child soldiers into the public light. The second plan is to
organize a speaker to come and talk at an organized dinner
about the issue of child soldiers in developing countries.
We are currently contacting various potential speakers including
members of CIDA, Warchild Canada and Professors at the U of
A involved in international development work. The scope and
quality of this speaker night will largely depend on the amount
of funds we are able to raise and allocate towards organizing
it.
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