My Real-life Music Video

Today culminates two amazing weeks in one of Canada’s most beautiful provinces. We’ve now covered Nova Scotia through and through and have been from the easternmost end to the westernmost. The shows we’ve had over the last two weeks have been excellent and we’ve met some amazing people along the way, both at the high schools we’ve presented at and the home’s we’ve been billeted in.The Nova Scotia leg started out in Sydney. Arriving after a long and snowy ride from Fredericton, we were happy to get some sleep. Thanks so much to Joe and Jema for putting us up and feeding us! The next day we headed next door to Florence to play at Dr. T.L. Sullivan Junior High for what was a great show for a great bunch of kids. Cape Bretoners are very kind and personable, and everyone we met while there was great to us in this way.From that point we headed west to play shows in Monastery, Halifax, Weymouth, Yarmouth, and again in the Halifax area. We had some great crowds at each show along the way, but most notably were the shows in Halifax and Weymouth. The energy that these kids had was amazing and we all really enjoyed playing for such a lively audience. These Nova Scotia shows have also been excellent because we’ve received a lot of great feedback from students who were especially touched by the messages in our personal stories. It’s always our hope that what we’re doing has a significant impact on the lives ofstudents. To hear first hand that it has is a great feeling!We’ve now just finished up an awesome weekend in Halifax where, despite a little bit of rain, we had the chance to do some extensive exploring through one of Canada’s most beautiful urban centres. Like all Nova Scotians, the people we met in Halifax were great. This is especially true of our last billets, Kermit and Jane. They, along with the rest of the team, were involved in coordinating a prank that I will not soon live down. Jonny, Alex and I were walking home from downtown Halifax when from behind, Jacob appeared, startling us and saying that he had just been walking around and saw us out of the blue.In perfect succession, Matt, Zoe, Jamie, and Joy all appeared within no more than one minute of each other. I don’t get overtly excited about many things, however, this seemingly random but magnificently orchestrated rendezvous of nearly the whole team had me telling the story about ten times to everyone.From Kermit and Jane to strangers and their dogs, I was adamant about letting everyone know about how we had all met up at the same location on the way home by chance. It came back to bite me, however, when over dinner Jamie asked me to tell the story one more time. At its culmination, I was devastated to find out that it had all been a prank and that Kermit had been depositing my team embers on streets nearby where I had been walking. What I thought had been a real-life music video as actually staged! Outraged, I continued eating and tried as best I could to not let my displeasure how.We are now on our way back to New Brunswick for an exciting week that will also take us to Prince Edward Island for four nights. I am especially looking forward to PEI because I haven’t been there since I was 15. We’re looking forward to the rest of our time in the east, but also can’t wait to get back home.We’d like to give a big thank you to all the staff and students that attended our shows, and also to the people who have so graciously billeted us in their homes. That’s all for now. Take care!Ryan, Hearts in Stereo

What Can 100 Years Do?

They perform 66% of the world’s work, earn only 10% of its income, and own only 1% of the world’s property. The girl child has been unofficially dubbed as being endangered due to infanticide, sexual exploitation and statelessness. And yet, the world not only needs women for obvious reasons, the world needs women because of the diversity, the hope and the compassion they bring.

Today, March 8th, is the one hundred year anniversary of International Women’s Day. The cause started much before that date so many years ago, and we live today in the freedom of what others fought and stood their ground for. In honour of today, I would like to introduce you to some of the incredible women we have worked with around the world: young and old, rich and poor.

I wonder how you could ever even count how many single mothers there are out there? Their courage is daunting and their resolve is inspiring. Women like Sandra, a single mother of 5 children in a tiny, impoverished community along the shipping docks of Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic. Sandra decided that poverty would not define her, her children and her community. Together with other women and men, they have rallied their community to believe in something more: a school, a medical clinic, a community cooperative, a girls’ club to educate and keep girls off the streets, and even giving their community an official new name to help re-define what they are becoming: New Birth. Happy International Women’s Day, Sandra.

Kru Nam’s courage and fierce passion for justice has resulted in hundreds and hundreds of children and women being freed from sexual exploitation and blinding poverty. This compassionate and courageous woman has rallied people from around the world, including LiveDifferent (formerly Absolute), to join her in a small, non-descript community in Northern Thailand that is a powerful tool against the evils of trafficking. Happy International Women’s Day, Kru Nam.

Mikaela has inspired many of our Hero Holiday staff and participants in Mexico when we consider the heavy load she carries and the strength it takes to put one foot in front of the other each day. Her young daughter, Jessica, is wrestling with cancer, and each day Mikaela goes to her shop and does her best to sell enough to make sure her daughter gets proper food, education, and a childhood. As I stood in the yard in front of her house that we helped to build for them, I realized how much respect her community had for her, and how much I had learned from her. Happy International Women’s Day, Mikaela.

There are so many girls in our high schools across Canada that we have met, we have listened to, and at times we have cried with. Sometimes all they have needed was someone to believe in them. There are so many amazing young women in our nation that it makes us in LiveDifferent (formerly Absolute) hopeful that we are building something worth fighting for. Our LiveDifferent (formerly Absolute) staff and our Hero Holiday program is full of young women who choose each day to be a light, a voice and tangible hope – despite what the personal costs may amount to. I have the privilege of working beside young women who have experienced everything from sexual abuse, terminal illness, violence and abuse, and innumerable personal challenges and yet they choose, each day, to continue to focus on what they can do to be a part of the solution to what they see around them. To all of you, Happy International Women’s Day.

We have met many incredible women throughout Haiti in LiveDifferent (formerly Absolute)’s work there. Many of them have loved much and lost much – some even have lost their own lives. Today, in honour of the memory of the women we have said good bye to there since January 12, 2010, Happy International Women’s Day.

“As a woman, I have no country. As a woman, my country is the whole world.” ~ Virginia WoolfJoin us this year in one of the countries we work in through our Hero Holiday program: www.livedifferent.com

No, I Do Not Have the Bieber Fever

I don’t think Shane ever pictured himself doing this. I am going to guess that he never, ever wanted to think about it again. But this time, when it came back to him, he was ready for it.

His earliest memory was coming through the front door of his house at the age of five, and watching his mother try to crawl across the floor to reach him, her body battered and bleeding from another unprovoked act of violence from a man who only hurt them. That same man grabbed Shane’s hand and took him out the door and down the street, promising him ice cream. As he ate his ice cream, Shane listened to the man explain to him that, “Sometimes, women just need to be taught a lesson.” But Shane never knew what that “sometimes” really meant, because it seemed to be all the time.

Shortly after, his mom managed to drag herself and Shane out of that place and create a new life for the two of them. It was later that she met Ray. Ray was different, and when Shane and his mom moved to Stratford, Ontario with him, life began to take on a new hope. Ray was good to Shane, and he refused to allow Shane to believe a lie about women – and somehow, Ray’s words were able to erase the damage done to Shane’s view of his own mother. It felt good to have something stable and consistent for Shane. In his memory is one conversation with Ray in particular that happened in a corn field on the edge of Stratford. Full of rage and confusion, Shane had just punched his mother in the stomach because she wouldn’t let him do something. Ray stepped in, grabbed his hand, and took him off into the corn field behind their house, where he spoke to Shane about how women really should be treated and how in doing so, you are respecting yourself. Somehow, that conversation began to undo some of the damage from earlier in his young life, and even though he couldn’t remember what exactly they talked about, he knew that he wanted to be different from that time forward.

When Shane was 9, Ray’s 14 year old nephew began to hang around their house and even offered to baby sit Shane. At first, it seemed pretty cool to have an older kid want to play basketball with him and to hang out with. But underneath it was a dark sickness that lurked: Ray’s nephew was a pedophile, even though he was still a ‘child’ himself. However, like many abused children, Shane had blocked out the trauma and tried to focus on keeping his life straightened out.

Through high school, he was that guy: the quiet guy who everyone knew, who always seemed to be getting into trouble, and who seemed indifferent towards the world as a whole. But it was all a veneer of self preservation: inside he knew there was something wrong, but couldn’t quite decipher through the loneliness and pain to figure it out.

As he graduated and moved on, Shane slowly began to open up to the possibilities that the world held for him. He wanted more, and he wanted to make a difference. It was then that he found out about LiveDifferent (formerly Absolute) and our School of Leadership.

In the time leading up to coming to LiveDifferent (formerly Absolute), the memories suddenly came flooding back. All of the abuse, the hurt and trauma was there, only this time he was in a place to begin to face it and turn it into something for good. This past fall, as he was preparing to go on our high school tours, Shane made the incredibly courageous decision to speak up. He chose to a become a voice for those who often feel they are left without one.

There aren’t many guys who are willing to ever consider talking about their personal lives on a stage in front of thousands of high school students – there are even less who are willing to talk about surviving sexual abuse. Shane is pretty much a one in a million kind of guy: he sees the possibilities, not the limitations of what life hands you. As he steps out on that stage and begins to share his story, it is more than a story of survival – it is a story of hope. And hope never lets go.

As the lights come back up and the band plays his intro jingle, with the mic in hand, he begins: “Hi, my name is Shane and I am from Stratford, Ontario. No, I do not know Justin Bieber, and no, I do not have the Bieber Fever. But my life was changed by a conversation that I had in a corn field, and the funniest thing is that I can’t even remember what it was about…”

To find out more about LiveDifferent (formerly Absolute) and our programs, check out www.livedifferent.com.

Greg and Diane

Greg and Diane Dueck have been married for 29 years. They live in Kingston, Ontario and they have two grown children, Erin and Josh. Erin met her husband, Ashley while traveling across Canada on an LiveDifferent (formerly Absolute) high school tour, and Ashley is now LiveDifferent (formerly Absolute)’s Marketing Manager. Josh met his wife, Kirstin, while on Hero Holiday in Dominican Republic.Greg and Diane have been long time supporters of LiveDifferent (formerly Absolute) because they have seen, firsthand, how their partnership has helped to change lives.

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No Big Deal

It’s 6AM and I roll off my latest air mattress in a dark basement. I couldn’t tell you what city I’m in. I wash my face and begin my day. A beautiful thing about life that I’ve noticed is that it seems no matter where you go in Canada, when provided with cereal by any billet, the delicious brand of Raisin Bran cereal is unquestionably there. After a delectable breakfast, the day begins. I pack all of my things back into my bag, back onto the bus and cuddle up in a seat for Sleeping Part II until I get to the school. Once arriving at the school, I bundle up for the loading in process. I’m trusted with small cases, trusses, and rolling cases…but I have faith that I could take on the big heavy sub one day! Once everything is loaded in, we each start our individual jobs in setting up. I have to figure out the power, which never seems to be as easy as just plugging it all in. Things are all set up and the students start loading in and that’s when the excitement sets in. Zoe and I usually have a small dance party at the back table.To be honest however, the best part of the day usually starts once the shows all over. We could have had a terrible show, the sound cut out or maybe the lights computer decided to just turn off for fun, but without fail, students will come and hang out with us after and tell us it was an awesome show. I get to meet so many amazing students, some who have these incredible stories and some who are just plain fun to hang out with! And the number of awesome people I meet in a day just grows and grows by the time I arrive at a billet’s. These people have no idea who I am, but I just show up at their front door with my life contained in a duffel bag and they welcome me with open arms, food and a shower. Every day I am amazed at how kind and giving these people are to us total strangers. Despite the early mornings and often exhaustingly long days, it’s the people that I’m meeting every single day (not to mention the people I share this stinky yellow bus with) that make this all worthwhile. No big deal but…my life is awesome!Alex, a School of Leadership Student on the road

Team One Checking In

Team One checking in. We have been in BC and loving it. The schools have been amazing and each of our billets have been great. One host family even took the whole team out whale watching in Ucluelet. (I must admit the team agreed they have never been more cold!). We went out in this little boat called the Zodiak. It was just big enough to fit the ten of us, and it was windy, but it was so worth it. We saw bald eagles, sea lions, went through the broken Islands, and then saw not one, but two whales. It was amazing! Thank you Al and Margie, that is one boat ride we will never forget.The week before that we were in Bowser, after we exhausted all of our Mario Brothers puns, I received an e-mail. Not long ago there was a murder in Duncan: a teenage girl named Tyeesha. They were having a memorial for her and wanted us to come and Bondless to play a concert. You see Bondless was her favourite band and her mom wanted them to come and play. So after our show in Courtney that morning we drove to Duncan. There we met an awesome guy named Jeff.Jeff was putting this whole thing together. It was called the “Take Back the Night Walk”. We went to the center and set up our stage. It had been a long day but the SOL’s were happy to be there and happy to help. I’m not sure what time the walk started but the building we were in was the finish line. At about 8:30pm people began entering. It took almost 30 min for everyone to file in. There were over 3,000 people there. It was amazing to see all those people come together for one cause, and that we had the opportunity to be a part of it. At about 11:00pm the speakers were all done and the band started playing. It was truly a great way to end the night.It has been amazing here on the island and we can’t wait to see more of BC. Next stop – Vancouver!