-mails for a change
Susie's Story
After attending the Toronto Take Action Academy, Susie was inspired to make achange in her life and the world around her. But without a motivational environment to channel her passion, she quickly became frustrated. Until, that is, she heard about Me to We Trips.
Being a Spanish lover, a journey to Ecuador sounded like a no-brainer to Susie and she immediately started a fundraising extravaganza. She began by holding a huge bake sale, before moving on to what Susie likes to call “Susie’s Walk/Swim to Ecuador.” Here, people would sponsor her to do a minimum 1 km of walking and swimming each day to symbolize her journey to Ecuador. With the bake sale and the walk/swim—as well as the help of her family and friends, and the sponsorship of local groups—Susie fundraised $3,000 for the trip. Finally, her goal to go to Ecuador was becoming a reality.
Before long, Susie was on the plane and looking down over one of the most beautiful but poverty-stricken regions in the world. After stepping onto solid ground, she got to see for herself just how real that poverty was. She was amazed at the fortitude of the local indigenous people who, despite their suffering, never stopped working to better their lives and were grateful for everything they had.
Susie says the best moments of her trip came after the long days of churning the land, digging
trenches, painting the local nursery or exhausting herself playing with the local children. Despite
the hard work and aching muscles, these were the times when Susie felt the most inspired and
driven to create change. And with leadership workshops and personal contemplation, Susie says
she learned a lot about herself, the world around her and her role in it.
Her experience, she says, cannot be put into words; nor could the emotions she felt along the way. Now back in Canada, Susie still finds it hard to understand all that she witnessed in Ecuador. Every day, she contrasts her life to the lives of those she met and is newly inspired to make change.
A few days after arriving home from Ecuador, Susie embarked on yet another adventure with Me to We Trips—this time to Arizona and Mexico for leadership training. That’s where she truly grasped what she had seen in Ecuador and allowed her emotions to penetrate into her heart. She cried for a long time, and for the first time in her life, she felt happy for feeling sad—knowing it would spur her to make a difference in the world.
