metronews.ca
ETERNIA - It's Called Life
Reported by: JIM REYNO November 11, 2008 01:00
It's a mock talk show with girl talk - informative and fun. And the 411 Initiative For Change is taking it to the schools. "We actually spoof the idea that it's the Tyra Banks show, or The Hour on CBC, and we present it as a television talk-show format," 411 executive director Tamara Dawit said about the program to raise awareness about female issues and empower young women.
"We have pre-taped clips and we have artists who are live guests in the studio."
The program, Girls Rights Are Human Rights Too, is touring high schools this month. It was created with the children's developmental organization Plan Canada to explore issues such as education, gender equality, violence against women and child labour.
One of the guests on the program is singer George Nozuka, who is releasing a documentary Nov. 25 about child slavery in Haiti, titled Artist at Work. He says there are more than 170,000 child slaves in Haiti, and that many of them are physically and sexually abused.
"I think it's important for kids in general to know about what's going on around the world," Nozuka said. "In a country where our children and our kids are being taken care of, and in a country where the government is taking care of the people, I think it's important to shed some light on the countries where the government isn't taking care of the people."
Female rappers Eternia and Masia One are also part of the program, and help portray positive images of girls.
411, a national youth-led not-for-profit organization, and has been touring schools for 10 years. Dawit said the girls rights theme was a natural fit this year because Plan Canada is participating in Plan International's campaign addressing the same thing.
Plus, there's been a demand for it. "We touch on a lot of social issues, and we always try to include information specific to young women and girls," said Dawit, a founding member of 411. "We've had a lot of feedback from schools and from teachers saying they'd really like to see a program looking at issues that impact girls specifically."