Faze Magazine Article – Legacy

“What do you want to be remembered for?”

Joy was prepared for a lot of other questions from her leadership teacher, but not that one. She had to come to terms with everything, to look herself in the eye, and to be willing to give herself an honest answer, no matter how hard it was to do that. Could she do it?

Her Mandarin name is Yi-Ting Yu and it means, “Happy Family”. In English, her name is Joy, and if you have ever spent five minutes with her, you will know why. She is a mixture of crazy antics, laughter and energy, all wrapped up in an itty bitty living space.

She was 7 when her family moved from Taipei, Taiwan to Canada and settled into life in Richmond, B.C. Moving to a new culture is challenging, but for her, the move also held a lot of other difficulties. Her dad had a temper and it often resulted in violence in their home. When pressure mounted and he exploded in anger, Joy often got the brunt of it. Many years of long sleeves and keeping things hidden had given her the ‘ability’ to be a bit of a chameleon, blending in with whatever social group she was with.

On the outside she was outgoing, fearless, even sometimes almost cruel and careless. But on the inside, she was scared, lost and frustrated with her life. She wanted to change and she wanted to get free from all the pain, but didn’t know where to start. One night it all changed. Her best friend, her leadership teacher and her high school vice-principal showed up at her door, and pulled her out of a dangerous situation. Their kindness forced her to realize the worth of her own life and what she was capable of becoming. In the end, their kindness changed her entire life.

A few months later, with their help, Joy found herself in Dominican Republic with LiveDifferent’s Hero Holiday program. Day after day she experienced compassion and love in action, as she played a part in bringing hope to people who were desperate for the help. But while everyone else was inspired and empowered by the experience, she wrestled with the injustices of life and didn’t know how she was going to return home and continue to stay strong in her resolve to not go back to her old habits and ways of dealing with things through violence, anger and pain. One day, her leadership teacher sat her down, looked her in the eye and asked her the question that changed her perspective.

“What do you want to be remembered for?”

After thinking about it for a while reflecting on what she had learned through her experience, she came to some conclusions. She didn’t want to be defined by the pain anymore: “I want to be remembered for always making people laugh, for being amazing with kids, and for always being there for my friends.”

Joy is my friend, and she now works for us in LiveDifferent. She has shared her story with hundreds of thousands of students across Canada and she has been an integral part of our Hero Holiday trips all over the world. If given the opportunity to describe her, many of her friends would probably use words like outgoing, energetic, bubbly and determined. But that is just her personality. While it may paint a picture of what to expect when you meet her, it doesn’t clearly prepare you for the strength of character that makes up who she really is. I believe she will be remembered as someone who chose, every day, to reach out and make a difference in the world around her through compassion and kindness.

We often try so hard to fit in that we can forget that there is a memory of us that is left behind. It can happen as soon as we leave a conversation or a room, or it can be years, decades, centuries later. Like the image of a bright light left in the darkness, we leave behind a memory, whether we want to or not. So, the question for you and me is what do we want to be remembered for?

– Christal Earle – Co-Founder of LiveDifferent

Generosity is a powerful force!

Generosity is a powerful force! People who practice being generous can help make a difference in our world and in their own lives.

Claire and a group of friends from Sault Ste. Marie recently showed us how easy and fun it is to be generous, to make a difference for someone else, and to LiveDifferent every day.

On June 8, I was invited to Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, to speak at an event that Claire had dreamed up 9 months earlier. In the summer of 2011, Claire had been an intern in Dominican Republic with our Hero Holiday program. In her own words, her life was transformed by the experience and when she returned home she knew she wanted to continue to live that change out every day. So she made a plan, and that plan involved students, teachers and parents from two schools in her city. Together, they decided to host an evening gala event, with all the proceeds going to help to continue to build our LiveDifferent school in Cap Haitien, Haiti. 

The evening was a huge success, with over 200+ people in attendance, lots of laughter, and even a few tears, as hearts were touched by stories of courage and hope in the community where the school is being built. Together, they raised over $8000 that night, all of it with the vision of continuing to provide education in a community that previously had no immediate access to it.

I asked Claire why she did it. Her answer touched my heart and made me proud of her and the many incredible volunteers that join us on our LiveDifferent Hero Holidays every year.

“I wanted to go to Haiti this year with the Hero Holiday program, but I knew that it wasn’t realistic for me right now. I was finishing up high school and I knew I wouldn’t be able to take the time away or get the money together. Instead, I decided that I would still reach out to the people in Haiti and let them know that I cared about them, whether or not I am able to be there in person right now.”

Claire and the people who joined her reminded me of why we will continue to do what we do, and how many ways there are for each of us to make a a lasting difference through LiveDifferent. Their efforts were based out of 100% pure generosity and love, and their passion and commitment made the event possible. They are living proof of what we truly believe: a changed heart really can help to change the world.

So, this is our shout out to all the Claires out there, and all the ones who are yet to be inspired to LiveDifferent. Fundraisers such as this are what make our work possible. They are also what make a difference for the futures of those who need a voice. If you’d be interested in organizing your own fundraiser, we’re here to support you in any way we can, so please contact us!

Thanks Claire and friends, for all your hard work, your passion for hope, and your commitment to making a difference. You are why we do what we do.

Christal Earle – Co-Founder of LiveDifferent

Staff Blog – Laura “LiveDifferent has always had a piece of my heart”

Where to start? It has been quite some time since I have collected my thoughts and experiences into one place! I guess I could say that my start with LiveDifferent was way back in 2008 when I went to Dominican Republic on one of the public summer trips. There were many moments on that trip that were life-changing. I think the most ‘directional’ moment was one night’s activity where we were split into groups to discuss different issues that the world was facing, and to either create an awareness campaign or a plan of action. I was thrown into the group discussing slavery, and until that night, I did not realize how naive I had been towards that subject. I’d had no idea that there were more people enslaved in the world today than there were in the entire history of the trans-Atlantic slave trade! My group’s idea was to create a sustainable manufacturing company that provided job opportunities to locals, and also allowed post-secondary students from Western countries to build an external knowledge of how their actions have an impact on more than just themselves. We called it “Triangle Fashion”. To this day I have not put this ‘plan of action’ to rest, although it has been altered and revised many times in the past couple of years. It is funny to think that a simple group activity that most people have forgotten has continued to spark ideas of change inside of me.

Now, let’s fast forward a year! My plans for university in September fell through, and I had no idea what I to do with my life! Naturally, I turned to my best friend, ice cream, to point me in the right direction. Unfortunately it did not offer any sort of support other than an upset stomach! A few days later, I was looking at some pictures from my Dominican trip, and I vaguely remembered someone telling me about a 9-month leadership program at LiveDifferent. I sprang into action, found out all of the information, and luckily, I was able to just barely squeeze onto their list for the following year. It turned out to be one incredible year, filled with tears of joy and laughter and many, many blog entries. My 4 months spent in Mexico were filled with teaching English to a kindergarten school up the street, going to help out at a seniors home, hosting a Hero Holiday, and having many stressful (but important!) debates with my fellow students regarding issues such as stereotypes, poverty, consumerism, and other global concerns. On the road it was a completely different atmosphere. I was given the chance to speak in the high schools, which I really enjoyed, I helped to lead workshops, and I even enjoyed learning about and running the power for the shows! Between living in Mexico and touring across Canada, I learned that real change does happen in communities we worked with, and that real change can begin simply by sharing your story in a high school. I finished the year off feeling very fulfilled, but a little unsure of where life would take me next.

After attending LiveDifferent Academy, I entered into a two-year college program in Community Development and completed it this past spring. This program gives you the ability to be versatile and allows you to work in many different sections of the non-profit world such as non-profit management, fundraising, non-profit marketing, counseling, etc. In many of these classes, the assignments we did were mock up’s of the real deal. For example, in ‘Program Planning,’ the entire course was based around creating a plan that we could eventually execute later on in our professional careers. I handed in a program plan that would create a needs assessment in Sukabumi, Indonesia, to see if building a sewing shop would be beneficial for the locals, (four years later and still heavily based around the roots of “Triangle Fashion”). I found that this program helped me develop many different skills, and now I know that when I continue to work in this field, I will be able to create sustainable change and not just a quick-fix.

This all finally leads me to this summer. I knew I would have a few job opportunities for the four months before I return to school in the fall, but I had a passing thought. If I were able to get a student work grant for LiveDifferent, would they let me come aboard and help out in their office? I got the confirmation that they’d love to have me around the office, so I started filling out the grant application. We soon got a phone call saying that we had received the grant, and I was full of excitement! Ever since volunteering on that first trip to Dominican Republic four years ago, LiveDifferent has always had a piece of my heart. The people who work in the office throughout the year have an unbelievable stamina because everything they do is fuelled by their passion to literally ‘LiveDifferent.’ I have seen many environments where people are unhappy with their careers because they are ‘just working a job.’ However, all the staff at LiveDifferent make it seem effortless, and even when times are stressful, they work through it, because for them this is so much more than ‘just a job.’ From an outsider’s point of view, it is hard to imagine all of the background work that goes into the bigger picture of what this organization does every day. After making the transition from volunteer to student to summer office intern, I have been given the opportunity to see all of the work that goes into every single volunteer, newsletter, donation, school booking, and everything else! It is incredibly commendable and yet often goes unrecognised by us (as volunteers), yet this staff team does a great job of all the work it takes to ensure a brighter tomorrow for the people we serve. I think that was one of the main attractions when joining the team, being a part of an environment that strives to empower those around them.

I will leave you with this last thought. Throughout all of my time at LiveDifferent, I have learned that we all have a purpose and even the smallest of details can have the largest impact. Someone randomly put me in a group to discuss slavery, and they had no idea that four years down the road I would still be working on templates based on the results from that group activity. When you walk out your front door you never truly know what is in store for you, the only thing certain is that you will have more opportunities than if you stayed at home!

Laura – LiveDifferent Summer Staff Intern