Rotary Club of Sioux Lookout invites youth to explore Adventures in Human Rights Program
Reeti Meenakshi Rohilla - Staff Writer
The Rotary Club of Sioux Lookout is inviting local youth to take advantage of the three-day Rotary Adventures in Human Rights (RAHR) virtual program, for an overview on the subject of human rights.
Rotary Club of Sioux Lookout Treasurer Susan Barclay said, “It is an opportunity for youth in Sioux Lookout to participate with youth from across our (Rotary) district, and across Canada in some cases.” She added, “Adventure Programs are meant as an introduction to youth to various avenues for further study and careers.”
RAHR will be running virtual workshops with dynamic guest speakers, from August 17 to August 19. It aims to give participants a chance to network, create an action plan addressing social justice and human rights issues that they could implement within their schools, and make new friends in the process, shared RAHR’s website. “The mandate and goal of the program is to provide students with an opportunity to explore human rights issues within the Canadian Museum for Human Rights by focusing on the following three themes: Women’s Rights, Indigenous’ Rights and Democratic Rights,” the website stated. “Although the majority of the program will be held at the Museum there will be visits to various non-governmental organizations and Winnipeg locations in order to see positive action in progress in the area of human rights (Virtually this year),” it added.
Barclay shared that several Rotary programs that have been curtailed due to the COVID-19 pandemic are expected to restart post-pandemic, pivoting back to in-person events with a full venue of programs and activities. Barclay shared that RAHR is a relatively new program undertaken by the Rotary Club in Winnipeg, in collaboration with the Canadian Museum for Human Rights. She added that this will be the first time for the Rotary Club of Sioux Lookout to join this adventure, inviting interested students entering grades 10, 11 or 12 in the next academic year to apply by June 30. Rotary Club of Sioux Lookout will cover event costs. Interested individuals may reach out to Sioux Lookout Rotary Club through their Facebook page, or via email at rotarysiouxlookout@shaw.ca.
Barclay said that while a virtual event may not be the same as having 20 young adults come together in-person for the program, it is an attempt to keep this program alive post-COVID. She added, “Different programs within Rotary and everywhere else are trying to put together a virtual kind of replacement, because you can’t really replace going to the museum, in the same way. But, I am quite sure that they have put a lot of thought into how to engage students over the period of time with a virtual gathering.”
Rotary Clubs across Canada have developed individual Adventure Programs, with a unique focus based on their location. Some of these other short-term programs across various Rotary Clubs include Adventures in Citizenship, Adventures in Film, Adventures in Forestry, Adventures in Healthcare, Adventures in Industry, Adventures in Technology, Adventures in Tourism, Adventures in Aviation, and Adventures in Agriculture.
“Every student who has come back from any of those adventures has been very excited to have learned something new and it opens new horizons for them. If there is an interest, let us know and we will certainly try and get them into the human rights adventure this year virtually, and perhaps on the other programs as well,” said Barclay. “When we get post COVID, there will be a lot more,” she added.
