Youth inspired after the Vancouver Peace Summit

The Dalai Lama Center’s founding director Victor Chan recently spoke of the global impact of His Holiness’s visit to Vancouver for the Vancouver Peace Summit. The Dalai Lama’s comment that the world would be saved by the Western woman “ricocheted around the globe” as bloggers, not used to a figure of His Holiness’s stature eschewing “political correct niceties,” quickly weighed in.16,000 youths attend WE Day in Vancouver (photo by Miss 604 - flickr.com/photos/miss604)

There was, however, another group of interested writers who were quick to comment on the impact of the Vancouver Peace Summit: young people. Even though the Summit featured a Nobel Laureate physicist, several spiritual thinkers and many other figures who rarely occupy young peoples’ list of favourite celebrities, judging from the words of some of Vancouver’s youth, the event clearly resonated with many.

16-year-old Lauren attended WE Day, a partner event with Free the Children, and she wrote the Dalai Lama Center with this to say:

I’ve never been in a room with that many inspirational people – people who have really done extraordinary things and changed the world! People who didn’t let the fact that they were one small fish in a huge sea get in the way of their dreams. These people have truly inspired me to continue following my dreams and to know that I am more than capable of changing the world all by myself.

Adrian, another local youth, had this to say:

Before the conference, I’d never heard of most of the people on stage or specific stories on “Poverty, Darfur, wars…” going on throughout the world and right here in Canada. I was amazed and full of emotion with the touching stories that were spoken…After the conference, I’ve started for the first time in my 21 years making changes and helping spread awareness around Canada and I’m proud to say the conference was my only inspiration to kick-start my journey in helping this world become a better place.

On Facebook, comments from youths poured in – “Totally unforgettable”; “The greatest and most inspirational day of my life”; “So Good. Can’t wait for next year”.

If you’re a youth or if you have young people in your life who have been inspired to act after experiencing either WE Day or the Vancouver Peace Summit let us know on Facebook.

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