DuffARRRRin Peel Student Day

Captain's Log

November 9th - Fr. Goetz S.S. Mississauga: the first Student Day.



Derek Forgie spreads the word!



With all but a few of the board's 26 high schools represented, the crowd at Fr. Michael Goetz high school was a large one.  The day kicked off with a presentation by Derek Forgie from MTV Canada. He had everyone laughing but also thinking about our consumption of bottled water. "Did anyone stop to think that evian is naive spelled backwards?" he asked.

taste test time

We watched as student volunteers failed his 'tap water taste test.'  It's pretty clear that tap water tastes just about the same as bottled water products.

Warmed up by Derek's presentation, students then learned about the July 28th UN declaration on access to clean water as a human right.  They heard that 884 million people in our world today do not enjoy that right.  If water is a god-given gift for all, this is a challenge to our very humanity.

One student, Tiffany, was ready to oblige me when I asked for a drink of water.  She was a bit surprised when I gave her the pedometer and asked her not to bring me the water until it read 6km.  This is how far women in the Global South can have to walk in order to get water for their families.  Everyone cheered when she proudly came back sometime later with the proof on the pedometer. She was awarded a Life before Profit T-shirt for her efforts.

Judging by the hearty response to my question, "Be thar any pirates in this here room?" I think we can expect a good fleet from the Dufferin Peel board.  They were happy to take a share of the pledge card booty I brought with me in my black chest. I expect they will now be getting busy building the finest ships in the land!

Many thanks goes to the school board for their support of this day.  The most special thanks though goes to the students of the SOWHAT club at Fr. Goetz.  If anyone says you did less than awesome in organizing the conference they can walk the plank!