Local CDDHS student raises money for trip to Kenya

December 3, 2014 · 0 Comments

Proof the world is a different place today as compared to thirty years ago, social media and the Internet has brought the world to everyone’s fingertips. So entranced with the Me To We Project, Micayla Vanderbent, a 14 year old student attending Centre Dufferin District High School is raising money to help pay for her three week trip to Kenya so she can help build a much needed school with the Me to Wee Program.
Vanderbent will travel with the organization, not with parents, and the trip understandably not cheap is at a cost of $6,000. It’s no wonder money needs to be raised in order to participate and only the very serious determined to help actually partake.
Vanderbent became interested in travelling to Kenya when she joined the Me to We project in middle school. The thought of helping others in need became a certainty in her mind, and all she had to do was wait to be a little older, raise $6,000 and with her parent’s support, she is planning to go to Kenya with another local Shelburne Student who is equally big hearted and determined to help students in Kenya, Nicole Rist-Petrovic.
“I have to raise the money by this summer. I’ll be fifteen when I go, and the trip is for three weeks,” said Vanderbent. “The money will be for the cost of the plane and supplies to build the school.”
In truth many might wonder why our youth want to take this journey to such a far place when so many need so much right here in our own country? According to sources, returned travellers to such places as Kenya revealed an eye opening response. Even though there is poverty in Canada, even though people are poor, they still have so much more than those in places like Kenya who endure ongoing poverty without resources such as welfare, food banks, and local support systems. The reality of not having water is foreign to Canadians. Young Canadians are greatly impacted by these facts and feel the need to go where the “actual need” is going to be the most remedied and appreciated by their help. Building a school has proven to change the lives of those who attend, a privilege, one of many we in Canada take for granted, the ability to read for example.
“I’ve wanted to do this since I heard about it. It’ll be a great experience, that will benefit myself and others as well,” Vander bent stated. Vanderbent, a veracious reader, would like to be an Editor when she is an adult and there is a very great possibility she may be publishing one of her own books one day and though she confesses to enjoying all genres, there is also another great possibility, one published work at least, will be about Kenya and the Me To We Organization.
A bank account at Canada Trust has been set up for Vander bent where the public may go into and deposit funds for her Kenya trip this Upcoming August. The Account number for those who are interested in making a donation is 6490124, branch #166 if you would like to help Vanderbent fulfil one her dreams to help change the world, building a school at a time in Kenya!
To find out more about the Me to We organization of worldwide volunteers, go to http://www.metowe.com. To contact Vanderbent, call 519 217-4661 or 519 217-4640. If you would like to make a donation to Nicole Petrovic, contact Michelle Mayo at 705 302-6574 for more information.

By Alex Sher