 |
travel / express yourself / your adventures / cape farewell
| Your Adventures |
|
|
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 |
|
MEET THE STUDENTS |
|
PHOTO GALLERY |
 |
|
 |
|
|
Hey everyone!
SEPTEMBER 17, 2008
Yesterday an event happened that could easily define the moment when I really realized how special this expedition has been to me personally. But strangely it wasn’t focused on the sights I’m seeing really. It wasn’t an event really either, more of a combination of the two making a single moment’s clarity.
To explain, yesterday we landed at a place in Baffin Island where a settlement was abandoned and because of that it became like the dump of the Arctic. There were rusted metal and oil drums everywhere, and we decided we’d make use of this unique place. We moved all the junk into a line and then we formed a “junk orchestra”. Everyone pulled out their drum sticks that we got in Toronto and they began to play. Colin conducted and organized the orchestra, and I had the special privilege of bringing my trumpet ashore and being the melodic centre of this event. But then came the moment of clarity. Amid the cacophony of percussive sounds everyone was making I found that I could find each voice of every person, each one as unique as their personalities and it was beautiful. It wasn’t just inexperienced noise anymore it was brilliance. In that moment I realized how powerful we are when we let what we truly feel come out and I think that is a big part to creating a global community that fight climate change. The melody created from that moment of clarity literally brought tears to my eyes.
Posted by Sean W.
Charlottetown Rural High School
Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island (PEI)
Polar Bears and Polar Dip
SEPTEMBER 19, 2008
Today we had our last and most exciting landing. Before breakfast, the crew had spotted a polar bear, but it was hard to see even with binoculars. As we went out on the zodiacs, we went in close to look at the polar bear, and it was amazing seeing it in its natural habitat. We were lucky that it had a whale carcass that it wouldn’t leave so we could land safely nearby.
After we finished wrapping up our group activities, we had our polar dip. Today was the coldest day of the trip so far, and just getting down to our bathing suits was cold enough. Most of us lost sensation in our feet as we ran toward the water, and almost an hour later, it still hasn’t fully come back. It was a great way to end our final landing, although it would have been slightly better had the hot water not run out on the boat before we got back.
This is the last time I will be on uninhabited land for I don’t know how much time. We have been so isolated for these two weeks on the ship, and I am not sure what it will be like going back to my everyday life. We have been living in a bubble, surrounded by like-minded people, taking in as much as we can from the landscape. Now we have a great responsibility to communicate what we have seen, and it will be difficult without our safety net of artists and teachers. I am sad that this experience is ending, but I look forward to sharing everything that I have taken from it, and sharing it with as many people as I can back home.
Posted by Luisa L.
University of Toronto School
Toronto, Ontario
|
|
