Shooting for the Moon - One Production at a Time

When Andrie Nel first became involved with theatre in high school, she knew she had found her passion in life. She dove in head first, scoring a role in every play her high school offered. Once graduated, the job market was calling and Andrie did not continue in theatre until her mid to late twenties. This time, her love of theatre blossomed even more and she became very passionately involved with several drama groups. In one year, she was doing up to nine plays, sometimes rehearsing three at one time.

She knew when she left the stage to raise a family that many years later she would come back to it. “I had plateaued and I didn’t mind stopping at that point. I said I would return, but I would return in a way that encourages kids [to learn drama]. “I only discovered in high school that I loved this,” she says. What might have happened if I discovered it earlier?”

With a family in the works, Andrie pursued her MBA and opened a business consulting firm that worked with the high tech sector. Andrie and her husband, who she met in theatre, took turns playing the role of the stay-at-home parent. “I knew I could be successful at the job and I enjoyed it for many years, but I also realized the assumed goal of being a president was not what I wanted to do,” she says. “I was not going to go where I was programmed to go.”

Out in the country, where Andrie was born and raised, there was not a lot in the way of formal drama training. In schools, children were limited to sports as an after-school activity and there were not many businesses nearby offering alternatives. While she pulled back work-wise, she quickly became involved with the school council and the community. It was there Andrie realized that the arts were severely underrepresented.

As the mother of two children with learning disabilities, it became obvious to her that there was no place for her kids – and others like them – to shine.  Her notion of returning to the stage slowly turned into a reality, and in the capacity she had always dreamed. Andrie formed a drama club and put on several plays in the next year.  The program grew too large for the school and Andrie’s hunger to have a drama program for kids from all across their rural town made moving into the Old Metcalfe Town Hall a logical choice.

Just Kiddin’ Theatre was born December 2006, out of Andrie’s fervent passion for theatre and the drive to deliver a quality dramatic arts program to kids of Ottawa’s rural south.  It continues to thrive thanks to her dedication and the support of volunteers, parents and the children. Andrie does it all – runs the non-profit organization, writes, directs and produces the plays, and raises a family with three teenage daughters. “I have modeled to them that regular people can do this and nothing is out of reach for them.”

Andrie has always lived by the motto “Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars.” Andrie is living proof that those who pursue their dreams wholeheartedly will one day live them out. “It comes down to passion. If you’re passionate about it, listen to that passion and let it lead you there,” she says. “If you’re not passionate, then think twice, because then it is work.”

Keeping all of the balls in the air to run Just Kiddin’ may seem like grueling work. If you asked Andrie on any given day, she would agree, but with that comes many rewards. “It’s always the kids that keep me going – cliché but it is true. There are days when I am exhausted, but the enthusiasm and the innocence of the kids absorbing and doing their stuff energizes me,” she says. “It is self-sustainable because they bring as much energy back every time.”

Most days, Andrie feels she is living an ordinary life complete with its ups and downs but also feels like she has had a bit of an eccentric life. “I went against the grain. My husband and I traded traditional roles and I didn’t feel boxed in by mainstream thought,” she says. “If I only had the option to pass down one value to my kids it would be that. Just because other people do it doesn’t mean you have to. Don’t be afraid to take risks, challenge the norm and try new things. Nothing is a waste of time if you believe in it.”

Written by Daria Locke

Edited by Kristine Scarrow

Published by Catherine Brindley

Joanne Farley - "Never Turn Anyone Away"

With a $5,000 donation and a dream, West Island Citizen was born in 1976 with the idea that a community takes care of its disadvantaged residents with no other reward than the good feeling of a job well done.

Thirty-five years later, the philosophy hasn’t changed but the organization sure has.

Funding has ballooned from the initial $5,000 to more than $500,000 annually and the number of protégés has jumped from 15 matches in its first year to approximately 400 today.

Citizen Advocacy’s conception can be attributed to a Winnipeg conference founder Joanne Farley attended in 1976 where she was inspired by Dr. W. Wolfensberger and his “people helping people” philosophy.

As the parent of an autistic and intellectually challenged son, Joanne had already spent more than 20 years championing the causes of people with intellectual and physical challenges in the West Island of Montreal when she decided to open the first Citizen Advocacy office in Quebec. 

“She was strong, determined and nothing stood in the way of what she wanted,” said Mary Clare Tanguay, Joanne’s daughter and current Director of Citizen Advocacy.

When Paul was born in 1950 and later diagnosed with autism, a term unfamiliar at that time, it pushed her to spend the next four decades creating educational, recreational, and housing programs for the handicapped. 

In addition to helping establish the first special education program in Quebec with the Baldwin Cartier School Board, Joanne sat on the board of the West Island Association for the Intellectually Handicapped and helped raise funds to get the Gary Taylor Centre built.       

If that weren’t enough, she helped establish a summer camp for the intellectually handicapped at Camp  Kinkora and she was involved in the development of the  Lakeshore Vocational Project which provided jobs with local employers for the intellectually handicapped. 

In 1985 WICA launched a housing project called the Church Apartment Program designed to provide supervised housing for people experiencing mental health problems.  CAP provides shelter for 42 residents in the community as well as in two apartment complexes called Heron House and Farley House. 

The primary mandate is to recruit, screen, match and follow up volunteers with disadvantaged people in the community.  It could include the intellectually and physically challenged, people experiencing mental health problems, and seniors.

Mrs. Farley’s philanthropic efforts have not gone unnoticed.  She was awarded the Order of Canada in 2004, which was hand-delivered to her Pointe-Claire residence by then-Governor General Adrienne Clarkson.

“It was her philosophy to never turn anyone away,” said Mary Clare.

That philosophy has carried Citizen Advocacy into the year 2011 and counts almost 400 active matches, 350 volunteer advocates and almost 500 protégés.  

Written by Marla Newhook
Edited by Lucinda Atwood

Published by Catherine Brindley

Francesca Imbrogno: Small Acts with a Big Heart

“I have met amazing people, and feel blessed to have been able to share my passions while helping others”

Few women can say that they belong to a team called “The Sisterhood of the Pink Crusaders” – but Francesca Imbrogno can, proudly. In fact, she created it. The all-female team that Francesca formed six years ago for the Canadian Cancer Society’s Relay for Life is just one of myriad examples of her ceaseless benevolence.

A strong advocate for female leadership, Francesca has been an instrumental leader in student government at the University of Toronto for the duration of her undergraduate career. She has served on the St. Michael’s College Student Union and as a participant in numerous other endeavours. In her final year, she became the first female President of SMCSU in five years.

Throughout her time at U of T, Francesca successfully rallied students to raise thousands of dollars for notable causes such as Play for a Cause, ShareLife, the Canadian Cancer Society, Out of the Cold, and the Haiti Relief Fund.

As Social Events Co-ordinator, she organized a party that drew over 1,000 attendees and raised $6,000 for PlayPumps International, a non-profit organization that provides easy access to clean drinking water for millions across Africa.

In 2002, when Francesca’s father was diagnosed with colorectal cancer, she began proactively researching opportunities to get involved and raise awareness.

This led to the eventual formation of Cuts for Christmas, an annual event recognized by the Canadian Cancer Society.

Each December, Francesca—along with the many courageous men and women whom she persuades—chops off her long locks and donates them to make wigs for those who have lost their hair during cancer treatments.

The event, now in its third year, has raised over $3000 and donated over 25 participants’ hair to Pantene Pro-V Beautiful Lengths and Locks of Love. In gratitude, Francesca received an unbelievable outpouring of love and support from the U of T community, as well as the community at large.

Francesca is vivacious, inspiring, and consistently generous; she has a heart of gold (and a dance that can put Justin Timberlake to shame). In her 22 years, she has already become a role model for those around her and has done what often takes others a lifetime to achieve.

In her own words, “I have met amazing people, and feel blessed to have been able to share my passions while helping others”.

Her long list of achievements and accomplishments hardly compares to the long list of lives that she has changed along the way. A beautiful person inside and out, Francesca Imbrogno is impossible to define as anything but amazing – she is truly an example of an outstanding Canadian woman.

Written by Cristina Rizzuto

Edited by Lucinda Atwood

Published by Catherine Brindley

Perseverance Changed the Face of Canada

The ability to bring forth change is neither out of one’s control nor out of one’s reach. It is not limited to virtue or vice, to socioeconomic status, to social reputability, to money, or to any other seemingly valued attainment. It is unfortunate that society regards the above falsities as truth, forgetting that those who do not particularly possess these qualities are the ones who have spearheaded many of the most significant milestones in our Canadian history.

           

 Imagine being part of an existence that regarded you as second-grade to the opposite gender. One that did not care for your voices, opinions, concerns or your fears so that with every attempt you made at expressing discontent, you were ridiculed or ignored. Imagine being part of an existence that went so far as to fail to acknowledge you as a person unless you were male so that at the moment of your birth, your position in society was decided.

Whether this scenario is feasible for you or not, prior to 1929, this was the unfortunate reality for all women in Canada. Naturally, there was a shared resentment among all those affected throughout the many years that this was the lamentable truth, but on March 14^th of 1868, a girl was born who would grow up to change my life, your life, and the face of Canada forever.

           

Born to Isaac Ferguson and Emily Gowan and named after her mother, Emily Gowan Ferguson lived a life much like yours or mine and just like you or I, she was taken aback when her eyes were opened to the harsh reality that so many women succumbed to.  Upon this realization, she began her efforts to make a positive impact on the lives of women and children and those affected by poverty and drugs. Over her lifetime, Emily’s contributions took the form of books, speeches, and other methods of spreading awareness of her causes; she was also the first woman magistrate in the entire British Empire.

Despite her accomplishments and contributions to society, she remained second-grade due to the simple fact that she was a woman. As a result, Emily, along with four other Canadian women, fought The Persons Case for twelve long years in attempts at achieving status for women in Canada, ignoring the ridicule and lack of optimism of others only to have the Supreme Court rule against them in their case. Led by Emily, these five brave women full of perseverance carried their case to Privy Council in Britain and on October 18^th of 1929, women officially became recognized as persons on the British North America Act.

           

This inspiring woman, born as Emily Gowan Ferguson, is Emily Murphy and it is her efforts and drive that made this milestone possible. It is her perseverance that changed the face of Canada so far as to make it impossible for any woman today to even comprehend the injustices that were occurring prior to the passing of The Persons Case. It is her courage that allowed her to keep trying when her first attempt was unsuccessful and finally, it is her spirit that began this whirlwind of change that granted a voice for the women of her time and all women to follow.

           

Emily Murphy did not possess power, riches, or connections to assist her in her battles. It was not privilege or advantage that aided her in her achievements and although these things may help, they are completely irrelevant to success. What Emily Murphy did have, however, is ambition and this is all that is required to spark the flame that can ignite clarity through darkness. All of us have ambition. All of us have the ability to make a change. Think of something in your life that you wish could be better and do something to make it better. Today is brighter than yesterday but it is up to us to make tomorrow brighter than today.

 “I believe that never was a country better adapted to produce a great race of women than this Canada of ours, nor a race of women better adapted to make a great country”

- Emily Murphy

Written by Nadine Elmasri 
Edited by Kristine Scarrow 

Published by Cathrine Brindley

Amanda Lindhout: An Advocate for Change

Amanda Lindhout, a journalist turned humanitarian, is a remarkable Canadian woman. Her experience as a hostage for 15 months in war-torn Somalia has helped her develop and demonstrate courage, perseverance and forgiveness. Lindhout has impacted Canada in a positive way by using her position in Canadian society to push for assistance for Somali women.

As a result of being kidnapped, Lindhout received a generous amount of media attention. She has used this attention to continue to bring awareness to the political and social instability that is currently destroying Somalia.

For the record, Somalia has not had a functioning central government since 1991 and its present transitional government controls only pockets of the capital Mogadishu. Islamist insurgents continue to fight for control of the remainder of the country.

The current government in Somalia is largely ineffective, which has created an environment that is rife with political and social discord, since the government has no real control over the people or the country.

Kidnappings and ransoms are commonplace, since journalists from foreign countries provide a source of income for locals who are impoverished by the long-term effects of civil war and Somalia’s subsequent instability.

In August 2008, shortly after Lindhout and photographer Nigel Brennan arrived in Somalia, they were kidnapped and held for a large ransom while experiencing inconceivable hardships.

Lindhout’s story was broadcast through various news media and she was heavily criticized for choosing to report in a country that is completely lawless, without proper insurance or security. While Lindhout’s decision may be considered naive, she has used the negative experience she had in Somalia to do something positive for the Somali people.

After Lindhout was freed, she came home to Canada demonstrating a greater understanding of the situation that is currently plaguing the Somali people. She’s now more involved in trying to help the country versus reporting on the situation.

Lindhout recognized that many of the problems that Somalis face are due to poverty and insufficient opportunities for education. Somali women are usually discouraged from working or receiving an education, which reinforces gender inequality.

Lindhout founded The Global Enrichment Foundation, a non-profit organization which seeks to empower Somali women by providing them with educational opportunities. By creating opportunities for Somali women, Lindhout believes that they can play a crucial role in constructing strong communities and encouraging peace.

By helping Somali women work towards gender equality, she is helping to ensure a better future for the country in general, as the women will be in a better position to create social and economic change within their country and these changes will, in turn, affect the world at large.

Lindhout is certainly a remarkable woman, as her strength of character has allowed her to move past the pain that resulted from her captivity and, in turn, inspired her to continue to work towards a better future for the Somali people.

Although her experience in Somalia could be viewed as incredibly negative, it has given Lindhout the understanding needed to make a real difference in the country and it has given her the insight to utilize a grassroots approach for this change.

Written by Cate Willis
Edited by Lucinda Atwood

Published by Catherine Brindley

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