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travel / express yourself / your adventures / cape farewell
| Your Adventures |
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2008 Youth Expedition: Cape Farewell Canada
Twenty-eight high school students from Canada, Ireland, Brazil, Mexico, Scotland, Germany,
India and the United Kingdom boarded a research vessel in Reykjavik, Iceland, on Sept. 7, 2008.
As ambassadors of their schools and communities, these students set out on a journey to observe
and interpret the effects of climate change in the Arctic. This voyage, Cape Farewell, is created
by an organization of artists who combine arts and science with the aim to raise awareness
about the environment. Their hope is to inspire the youth to share their experience and influence
the world to find solutions to this problem. For all the blogs, videos and photos visit capefarewellcanada.ca.
| ABOUT THE EXPEDITION |
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MEET THE STUDENTS |
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PHOTO GALLERY |
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Deep For a Moment
SEPTEMBER 13, 2008
Today we went to a small fishing village and we met some of the residents. My heart practically melted as we were welcomed by a little boy sitting on top of his mother’s shoulders playing peek-a-boo with a crowd of over 30 of us. We walked through the village and ended up visiting the children’s school. Walls adorned with jumbo letters of the alphabet, exaggerated clocks to learn time and bright colours and posters brought me back to when I was that age. The memory only became more vivid as I saw the kids on the sea saw, swings and trampoline….especially the trampoline. They didn’t have a care in the world and accepted us into their community with absolutely no judgment or animosity, just welcoming smiles. Something about this village shook me to my very core. Julia and I walked over to the end of the community and sat on the ridge above the water. We parted and sat about 10m away from each other. I just sat there and let time pass. I wanted to remember this place. I needed to remember this place. I listened to the sound of the water and the wind passing across my ears. Light sounds of Sarah’s penny whistle only intensified the moment. I began to open and close my eyes as if I was the shutter of a camera (a trick I had learnt earlier in the day). As I snapped my eyes shut I tried to lock the image into the memory stick of my heart. It was simply unbelievable to me that this was someone’s backyard and the choices I make along with most of the world were endangering this community of wonderful people. I tried to sketch but I just couldn’t bring myself to. I continued to breathe heavily and was snapped out of my trance when Julia called over to me and asked me if I wanted to go to the store. Together we made our way back through the community and to my surprise she shared with me almost the same experience. She was sitting 10m away from me yet we were feeling the same thing. She actually managed to get her sketchbook out of her bag but just stared at the blank page.
It is now September 12th and I haven’t facebooked, texted, watched TV, or talked to anyone other than the same 50 people in almost two weeks. Well actually I sent out text messages before I flew to Iceland and I did use facebook in Iceland but the point I am trying to make is I am completely fine without all my extras. We are all connected by so much more than those things and we need to believe it…seriously!
Posted by Somo (Chisomo M.)
Southwood Secondary School
Cambridge, Ontario
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