HOW WONDERFUL IT IS THAT NOBODY
NEED WAIT A SINGLE MOMENT BEFORE
STARTING TO IMPROVE THE WORLD.”- Anne Frank
Q. How do children respond to your programs and curriculum?
A. If you are ever in danger of losing hope in humanity, please
come see one of our youth empowerment programs like Freedom Day or Speakers Idol. We empower youth by inspiring
and encouraging them to do good in their schools and communities, and they in turn empower us to continue our work.
We live in the greatest country in the world – one that radiates
friendship, compassion, humanity and civility. The youth of
today radiate those same values and have a positive outlook
into the future. At the same time, we give them a sense of responsibility to preserve the values Canada espouses – freedom,
democracy and human rights.
Q. The topics are difficult – what might you tell a parent
that is concerned with introducing such difficult subjects to
their children?
A. We have never had an issue from a concerned parent. We
are very sensitive to how we introduce the subject matter and
ensure younger children are only exposed to what they can understand. At the same time, we must teach the future generation about the past. As they say, “those who forget the past are
destined to repeat it.”
Q. What is the “Tour 4 Humanity”? Where did the idea
come from and how have people responded to it?
A. After realizing that many schools outside of the GTA and
across Ontario could not come to our classroom in Toronto to
attend one of our many human rights-based workshops, I came
up with the idea of a mobile Tolerance Training Center. The
story of the Tour for Humanity is amazing in and of itself. I
literally went to an RV dealership and said, “I’ll take that one!”
It cost $246,000 for the RV and another $800,000 to retrofit
the RV into a wheelchair accessible classroom for 30 students,
and to develop the curriculum. It was quite an investment, but
we received a great deal of help from individual donors and the
Trillium Foundation.
Q. What is the state of human rights in Vaughan and in
Canada as a whole? Are there similar issues/challenges
across the board or do the obstacles vary by area?
Demographic?
A . According to the York Region hate crimes statistics for
2013-2014 the Jewish community was targeted more than all
other religious groups. This said, Vaughan is a terrific city and
community. We are fortunate to have Maurizio Bevilacqua as
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