Today, Tour for Humanity spent the day at Camp Wahanowin as part of their annual Pink Shirt Day. 2017 marked the Tour for Humanity's third visit to the camp. The director has invited the Tour for Humanity back each year because of how important the programming is to the campers. This year Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center (FSWC) Educator Daniella presented Simon’s Story workshops to the younger campers, so there were 6 workshops for Grades 3-6 students. 

During the first workshop, 8 and 9 year old campers shared personal stories of times that they had been bullied, especially online. One young camper raised his hand and then proceeded to explain how he had come up with a solution to help stop cyberbullying. He suggested that anytime anyone wants to post something online that they should count to 10 first and really think about what the post says and who it might be hurting. Daniella found this to be not only a very helpful solution, but also quite impressive from someone so young.

In the second workshop, the group got into a very important discussion regarding why bullying happens so much at school but not so much at camp. They came up with suggestions including, “At camp you can be free and no one is judging you,” and “At school there is pressure." Daniella asked the girls to come up with ways they could try to make school less judgemental to which they suggested that you could stand up for anyone who is being bullied.

Perhaps the most powerful moment of the day happened during one of the afternoon workshops. After discussing Simon’s story during the Holocaust, a young girl explained to her fellow campers that antisemitism is still a big problem in Europe today and that some people were still very scared. Daniella was impressed by her level of knowledge, but soon found out why. After some of the kids looked at her quizzically, she went on to tell them her story. She is of Belgian descent and just moved to Canada with her family two years ago. Her parents and grandparents felt that antisemitism was on the rise in Antwerp (her home town in Belgium) and they began to fear for their safety and the safety of their children. This story really connected with the other campers, because it allowed them to see that these situations are not just in the past but also happening to people that they know (and share a cabin with). Later on when Daniella asked the group to name some rights and freedoms that we have here in Canada, another student said that, “Canadians are free and equal and we aren’t mean to people like they are in other places."