The Blog

Outside of my world of PR, I’ve had the pleasure of volunteering with a great organization that is dedicated with introducing the arts to young people in the city of Toronto. The Eritrean Youth Collective, (EYC), is a youth led initiative that showcases events that brings art to young people. During the weekend of September 15th, 2012 I got to participate in their first conference – Get Yours. They had various workshops held that day with topics that ranged from branding, managing your money to defining your own idea of success. The culmination of the day was a Q&A period with NYC based choreographer Luam Keflezgy. I was beyond flattered that the EYC team asked me to host the Q&A session with Luam. She was a delight to interview and shared inspirational stories that everyone in the room could relate to – from her determination to finish her BA, the motivation to fulfill her dream and interweaving her own culture into her art. Truly an uplifting conference. Looking forward to this conference becoming an annual event.

As an East African, the word ‘famine’ holds a different type of pain for me. The Horn of Africa has been a victim to droughts and famines for too long. With the absence of peace and stability in that region for centuries, the lack of rain is just another blow to the innocent lives who seem to never catch a break.

When I was approached by the group, Concerned Youth Bringing Hope to Somalia, to help with their fundraiser I didn’t even think twice about it. Especially during the holy month of Ramadan, it feels even that much more relevant for me to do something. In this day and age, how are famines still occuring? Children dying of malnourishment while we have so much access here in North America hurts my heart. If you can, please check out the event (flyer above) or donate at Canada Helps .  100% of the donation goes to the famine victims.