[Guest Post: We are excited to offer our congratulations to MacLachlan College (a private school in Oakville) student, Kaitlyn Vleming, for winning a major essay contest sponsored by the A & E television network. I always wondered what it would feel like to hold one of those GIANT cheques! ~ Travis]
On Tuesday, May 25th one of MacLachlan’s grade 12 students, Kaitlyn Vleming was presented with an award for an essay submitted to A & E‘s Lives That Make A Difference Essay Contest.
There were several thousand entries submitted from across Canada and Kaitlyn’s essay was selected as the first place winner in grades 9 – 12. She will receive $2,000 as a prize along with an additional $1,000 to her teacher, Mr. Dominato, to be used toward classroom resources. This essay competition invites students in grades 5 – 12 to write an essay based on someone they think has made an important impact on Canadian society.
Kaitlyn chose to write her essay on Somaly Mam. Mam was born into extreme poverty in Cambodia and endured a very difficult childhood; as an adult, she now works to fight human trafficking and last year she launched the Soft Hands Kind Heart campaign in partnership with The Body Shop.
A & E attended the Upper School assembly on Tuesday, May 25th to present Kaitlyn with her award and interviewed her after the presentation. The interview was filmed and will be aired on television in the future. Congratulations Kaitlyn!
Kaitlyn’s Essay
What does it mean to impact a society? Some would say that politicians are influential; others would name entrepreneurs, celebrities, scientists. But true influence lasting influence extends beyond policies and laws, beyond making money or being published in a peer-reviewed journal. Often, the people who have the most impact are those who work not because they expect money or fame, but because they are passionate about creating change. Somaly Mam is one such individual.
Born into extreme poverty in Cambodia, Somaly had to endure a tremendously difficult childhood. As a young girl, she was sold into sexual slavery and forced to work in a brothel, where she sufferedphysical, emotional and sexual abuse on a regular basis. To this day, she does not know how old she was when this occurred; she does not even know her birth name.
Somaly escaped the brothel after witnessing the murder of another young girl. For many, simply living with the scars of these traumatic experiences would be a monumental task; for Somaly, even this was not enough. She made her goal to afford other girls the childhood she had been denied.
In 2009, Somaly joined forces with The Body Shop and Beyond Borders, a Canadian organization that fights human trafficking, to create the Soft Hands Kind Heart campaign. She has toured Canada and the U.S. to share her story and raise awareness, and The Body Shop has agreed to donate a percentage of the profits from their hand lotion to Beyond Borders.
Somaly’s job is a thankless one. Every day, she must deal with witnessing the terrible reality of human trafficking. She has even received death threats. Yet she perseveres because, in her words, “I don’t want to go without leaving a trace.”
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