I got introduced to this NGO based out of Toronto through LinkedIn the other day, and they're definitely on to something. The founder, Mellonie is a medical student in Toronto and wanted to take part in helping disadvantaged youth here in Canada by using international development as a vehicle. WWN focuses on providing English teaching classes free of charge to youth in the GTA and then assists them in going overseas to teach! I believe this is the only organization in Ontario that does something like this, and I think it's powerful for several reasons. This program has the ability to show someone here in Canada who has never had an opportunity to leave the country what the world is like in other developing or developed countries. In a city as diverse as Toronto it is easy for different degrees of social segregation to take place, and a program like this really fights stereotyping.
After exchanging emails with Mellonie I've realized there is less I can do to get involved but I feel that this is something other development students who live in the GTA over the summer may be interested in. They have a blog setup under the name wewillnow.com, it details what they do and ways to get involved, if anyone is interested. As well If you have an account setup on LinkedIn I could recommend you! focusing on development here in Canada as well as abroad provides us, I believe, with some solid footing before traveling around the world. If we don't know what poverty looks like in our own backyards, it'll be hard to identify ina foreign country.
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