Movement
How it all got started...
In the spring of 2006, a group of high school students had the once in a lifetime opportunity to meet former US President Bill Clinton as he passed through Regina on a cross Canada speaking tour. That afternoon, he spoke to the crowd about the need to become a global community, and how we must all be able to “see” one another in times of need.The idea was a powerful one.
So much so, that the students were motivated to make a difference- to transform their communities, both on a local and global scale. Partnering with SaskTel, the Regina Qu’Appelle Health District and Dr. Pammla Petrucka of the University of Saskatchewan, students from Regina and Saskatoon started the SaskTel We See You program, an initiative that sends medical supplies and donated materials to needy communities in Africa. Initially started as a project to send one 40-foot container of goods to a small clinic in Kibera Kenya, the We See You program has grown to include students and members of the community from across the province as well as corporate sponsors who help us store, pack and ship supplies to community based organizations and clinics across the African continent.
The final piece of the puzzle came into picture when SaskTel got involved. When we pitched the idea to a few members of the Executive team, they were excited at the possibilities, and signed on to sponsor our first container to Makina, Kenya. Since that time, SaskTel has signed on as the title sponsor, creating the opportunity for individuals from across Saskatchewan to be a part of the movement and make a difference in the lives of many people in Africa.
It's about more than just a 40' x 10' Container. It's about education, awareness and connection.
We all have the power within us to make a difference, but sometimes it takes a group of us to really make things click. When we started the We See You program, we realized that there was a lot of information to share with people about what is happening in Africa, and some of the issues that are being felt by the people in the continent. We have toured the province, visiting classrooms and community centers to raise awareness of the situations that are occurring in places like Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania, giving students an understanding of what the conditions in the area where we are about to send a container to are like. It is through this awareness and understanding that we are able to build a stronger generation of leaders in our global community.We Believe in Empowering and Engaging Youth
The goals of the SaskTel We See You program extend further than influencing social change in the communities we affect with each container we send. A significant part of our mandate is to engage the youth of Saskatchewan, educating them on the issues in their global community , sparking their passion to make a difference, and become the bridge communities in need and the young adults who want to make them better. Through a greater understanding of their world, and the realization that they have the ability to influence change, the SaskTel We See You program hopes that we not only meet the current needs of some communities, but build an army of future leaders for our province and world who will take global citizenship and partnership to the next level of accomplishment.We give these future leaders an opportunity. A chance to contribute to the greater good in the world. A shot at influencing change. And the results have been nothing short of inspiring- we have seen small groups of students raise 5,000 pencils to give to a school in Kenya, refuse birthday gifts in exchange for notebooks and toys for child refugees in Uganda and hours of their own time to hold teddy bear making events so orphaned children in Arusha will have something to hold at night.
Building Connections in Far Away Places
Our premise is a simple one. Help people help each other.We See You connects with non-profit organizations and non-government agencies in African communities who can help provide medical and educational support to the people in the community who are the most vulnerable, and may be unable to afford even the simplest of necessities. We choose our partners very carefully, ensuring that they have the capacity to work with us to distribute the supplies that we send to as many people as possible within the community.
We work exclusively with organizations that offer their services without cost to the public and will not support organizations who charge for medical or educational services.
Our partners usually also help with customs clearance and the arrangement of transportation of the container if possible. We also rely heavily on the expertise of SaskTel International to help us with this process. Through their International business connections gathered from working in African communities such as Tanzania and Mozambique, SaskTel and SaskTel International work with the We See You team to assist in setting up the logistics that are required to send a 40-foot container through international waters, as well as navigate the clearance processes through local customs with our partner organizations in Africa. SaskTel also helps students participate in the We See You projects by organizing events and activities throughout the process.
How We See You Works
Students and community members from across Saskatchewan partner with socially focused organizations to collect, organize and load supplies that can meet the needs of non-profit or Non Government Agencies in African communities that we have established contacts with.Reduce. Re-use. Recycle. Re-distribute.
The We See You program is not about charity, it’s about the redistribution of goods to meet the needs of our global community.A great example of this is the medical supplies and equipment that are donated to us from health regions from across the province. Many supplies, such as hospital beds, cribs, walkers, wheelchairs, gauzes, syringes and surgical instruments are removed each year from hospitals and community health care facilities as a way of maintaining our provincial health care standard. In the past, the majority of these supplies have ended up in local landfills. Through the We See You program, organizations such as the Regina Qu’Appelle Health District have not only diverted their medical supplies from these landfills, but they have created a new life for their use in communities that desperately need them.
