Our Chain Reaction Presentation

Today we wanted to share with you some of the content of the presentation that we have been giving to the children in the Education Centers here in Ethiopia.
We explain that Vern Hyde had a dream to ride his bike across Canada, and help build an Educaiton Cetner in Gindo, Ethiopia.  He was joined by his wife Dena, Mark and Nola Bishop, and ourselves.

All six people made a major commitment to help realize this dream.

We outline four secrets that helped us to be successful, and that they can also use to help them succeed at their goals:

1. Have a goal!
2. Plan and Prepare
3. DO IT!
4. Believe

As a fun break, we give the children a chance to try riding a bike with a stationary trainer. We show them a number of photos of the beautiful things we saw, and the people we met as we rode across Canada, and we speak of the many lessons we learned along the way.

A key point of the presentation is when we explain that the REAL Chain Reaction between Canada and Ethiopia began long before we decided to start the bike ride.

We show the children how a chain - typically used for pulling and support - is made up of a number of links.

The first link of Canadian Humanitarian Chain began 19 years ago when Dr Dick Northcott first came to Ethiopia.  What he saw touched his heart, and he wanted to help.  He told his wife Deborah, and she too wanted to help, and she became the second link in the chain.  More links have continually been added.

In 2003, Canadian Humanitarian was formed.  Then a program for 40 children in Guelele began. Then another program for 50 more children in Alemgena. By 2007, 250 children were being helped through Education Centers. 

Now a strong chain linking Canada to Ethiopia has been formed!

We explain that all of the links have been connected to help the children of Ethiopia, and one of the links represents each individual child.

We teach them that what the rest of the chain will be like depends on them; what they do, the goals they set, how hard they work, and if they do their best to help themselves and others.

We give each child a chain bracelet to help them remember that they are one of the links in the chain, and all of the other other links are there to help - their guardians, the teachers, sponsors, and volunteers, Canadian Humanitarian.

We conclude by saying the hope of all those involved in Canadian Humanitarian is that they will build a magnificent chain with their lives.