Manitoba Council on International Cooperation

Global Citizens in Manitoba

Like a chain of paper dolls, we are all connected. We live in one world and our individual actions affect the whole.

When you think about all the people in the world, we really share the same basic needs. We all want to be well fed, to have a comfortable place to call home, to have access to health care when we need it, to live without fear, and to have what is best for our children–to be educated, healthy and happy. We also want an environment that is healthy and will sustain future generations.

Of course at another level people are more diverse, and this is good. We can learn from each other’s experiences, and we can find better ways of doing things.

If we are all connected then it is our responsibility to become active global citizens, working together for a better world for all.

As global citizens, we realize that we are connected to people throughout the world. We understand that our choices here in Manitoba will impact people elsewhere. We try to live our lives everyday choosing acts that will have more positive rather than negative impacts on our community and the world.

This collection is an attempt to showcase a selection of Manitobans who are demonstrating these values and doing what they can to build a better world. There are many more Manitobans with stories like these. Perhaps you are one, and if not, you could be–there is always room for more.

  • Carly Welham

    Carly (17) from Gimli, Manitoba, is a high school student from Gimli, Manitoba. She is Making a Difference by promoting youth voice through the MB 4 Youth Advisory Council as well as working to ensure that young Manitobans’ opinions are represented in local government. Carly founded the ‘Trick or Eat’ campaign in Gimli, encouraging youth in her area to collect cans for food banks on Halloween. The initiative has proven very popular and grown in subsequent years. She proves that even students in high school can involve themselves in their community and work to Make a Difference in our world.

    Click HERE to watch a video profile of Carly.

  • Tyler Morden

    Tyler (23) from Morden, Manitoba, works for the Immigrant and Refugee Community Organization of Manitoba. He is Making a Difference by helping new immigrants integrate into Canadian society, from learning the official languages, to finding a place to live and getting a job. Tyler believes that this Makes a Difference to the whole community, as these people bring with them so much valuable experience and skills. He took his passion overseas working for a WUSC program rehabilitating child soldiers in Sri Lanka. As with all of his development work, Tyler argues that the people whom he helps make as much a difference in his life as he does in theirs.

    Click HERE to watch a video profile of Tyler.

  • Ainsley Frederickson

    Ainsley (28) from Stonewall, Manitoba, teaches High School students at Warren Collegiate in Warren, Manitoba. Ainsley is Making a Difference by educating her students on Fair Trade and by working with those students to encourage the school board to take up Fair Trade initiatives. Her students then go on make a difference by buying Fair Trade products and getting their friends and family to do the same. Ainsley’s students exhibit an energy and hunger for change that we must nourish in our youth, if we are to see lasting and sustainable change.

    Click HERE to watch a video profile of Ainsley.

  • Divine Masabarakiza

    Divine (22) from Winnipeg, Manitoba, volunteers for the Canadian Red Cross Society, MCIC member agency. Originally from Burundi, Divine is Making a Difference by raising awareness among Manitoba youth about the devastation that Malaria causes in our world. Her work raises money for bednets to be sent overseas through planned fundraising activities in the province. Divine is motivated to work with young people as she believes that youth demonstrate an energy and inspiration that is so essential to create a great impact in the developing world.

    Click HERE to watch a video profile of Divine in English.

    Click HERE to watch a video profile of Divine in French.

  • Nick Reid

    Nick (17) from Clandeboye, Manitoba, works for his father company Green Bean Coffee Imports which is a certified Fair Trade coffee roaster. Nick is Making a Difference by using the company as a platform to promote Fair Trade to Manitobans as a equitable system of production and trade, whereby producers are paid a fair price. He travels throughout the province to spread the word and believes that many more young Manitobans are creating change than we would think. Nick was one of six students who came together to write the song ‘Get Up!’, which encourages all young people to Get Inspired to make a difference, in any way they can.

    Click HERE to watch a video profile of Nick.

    Click HERE to watch the Get Up! music video.