Students inspired to make a change, shed light on refugee experience

It’s a well-known saying for a reason: to walk a mile in someone else’s shoes.

And for Grade 7 and 8 students at South Shore Elementary School in Regina Beach, they chose to do just that but instead, walking a kilometre around their school.

From June 16 to June 25, people can attend a self-guided walk accompanied by six informational posters. Each of the posters acts as a learning tool and more importantly, as a way for participants to follow the journey of a refugee. The goal? To raise awareness about refugees and raise $1,500 for the Regina Open Door Society.

“I think it’s the most fulfilling experience I’ve had as a teacher to date,” said their teacher, Daniela Machuca. 

“Seeing how passionate, how committed they are, how much they’ve come to believe in themselves and their ability to do something real in the world.

“This is the reason why teachers become teachers. We do it to help hearts and minds grow. We help children develop into actualized citizens and people who are doing good in the world. I go to bed happy every night and I wake up happy to go to work every day because of the passion that my students have shown.”

The charity walk was inspired after the class read the novel Refugees by Alan Gratz. The book follows the lives of three children searching for refuge who “all will face unimaginable dangers…. But for each of them, there is always the hope of tomorrow.”

“The kids were very affected by the stories they read,” Machuca said. 

“Towards the end of the book, we felt a call to action as a class. The kids brainstormed all kinds of different ideas of how we can help and we all collaborated on making it what it is today.”

Machuca explained she let the students have full control over the charity walk and it was a student-driven initiative, completely done on their own. The students even wrote their own news release and communications plan.

“What the kids would really like is to increase people’s awareness of what it means to be a refugee, and that sensitivity and understanding of what these people have gone through,” Machuca said. 

“And that even once they reach a safe country, like Canada, a safe place to live like Saskatchewan, their difficulties aren’t over and they do need our help.

“It’s our civic duty, as citizens Saskatchewan, of Canada, of the world, to help people out whenever and however we can.”

So far, the students have raised over $500.

“I really think it’s important to make learning real for kids and for kids to know they can affect change in the world,” Machuca said. 

“For kids to know that literature is a tool for opening hearts and minds and to know we don’t have to accept things as they are today, we can work towards making the world reflect our actual values and beliefs.”

The walk will go from June 16-25. To donate, people are welcomed to scan the QR codes on the posters, or can visit the South Shore Elementary School’s Facebook page or their GoFundMe page.