Join Bilaal Rajan in the 2009 Barefoot Challenge

Message from Bilaal Rajan

International Volunteer Week is taking place April 19 – 25, 2009, and to celebrate the occasion, I’ll be spearheading an initiative where I’ll live life without shoes for the entire week. As they say, “You never really know someone until you walk a mile in their shoes,” so I’m taking it a step further: I’m going barefoot!

I am asking fellow students, teachers and the general public to do the same, or as long as they can, to better understand the struggles faced by underprivileged children in the developing world – many of whom cannot afford shoes, let alone attend school or even know where their next meal is coming from.

Children in these countries walk miles in their bare feet every day to fetch water, work on their farm lands, go to school, or perform other chores. For many of them, the first priority is to take care of their families.

I am happy to say that people such as Nigel Fisher, president of UNICEF Canada, is on board. Also taking part is ORCA book publishers, award-winning novelist Eric Walters, World Partnership Walk deputy convenor Leigh McMaster-Virani, and most importantly, schools in Ottawa, Calgary and Montreal. The idea is also gaining momentum in countries as far away as Australia, Afghanistan, England, Thailand, Kenya, Malawi and Tanzania. The word on the initiative is travelling fast!

I am also featured in a documentary, Yes We Can!, produced by In Sync video, which is premiering on April 19, 2009 at the Sprockets Film Festival in Toronto, where the campaign is planned to officially kick off.

I’m urging everyone to spend just one hour bare feet any day during International Volunteer Week. Even better, you can spend a half or even a full day bare feet at work, at school or at home. What are you prepared to do to make the world a better place?

Visit http://www.makingchangenow.com/ for more details.