Written by Devan L, Grade 12 student at All Saints Catholic Secondary School
On November 13, high school students from across the DCDSB gathered at the Pope Francis Centre in Oshawa to discuss important social justice issues surrounding girls’ education. Students were honoured with the opportunity to hear from South African Education Activist, Noluthando Honono, via Zoom. This special day was in advance of the three-day Youth For Others (Y4O) Advocacy symposium titled “Education, Her right, Our future” being organized by Canadian Jesuits International (CJI) in Ottawa this coming April.
Noluthando Honono is a postgraduate law student from South Africa and a strong advocate, actively involving herself in campaigns that can help ensure that all girls and women have access to an education. She is an international partner of CJI who has been invited as resource person to be part of this year’s campaign on the right to education. She speaks to young students to spread awareness on the issue and to inspire them to stand up and fight for girls’ rights to an education in their own community and around the world.
Opening the event, students participated in a student-led ice breaker where the “winners” sang “Children of the Light” to spread some joy on National Kindness Day. Afterwards, the group heard from Noluthando and took part in a Q&A, and then to wrap up, they engaged in a “build your own adventure” activity where they were introduced to young people from the global south and had to build a story based on decisions made in response to different scenarios. These scenarios were designed to highlight barriers that girls in the global south face such as poverty, gender bias, and violence, just to be able to obtain an education.
A big thank you to Pieter Niemeyer, Outreach Coordinator of Canadian Jesuits International, and to Mr. Dubowits, our System Faith Animator, for organizing this Social Justice Day for our local Catholic youth to partake in. A big thank you as well to the participating schools, this day would not have been possible without them and their willingness to help spread awareness on such an important issue, empowering the next generation to be advocates.
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