Destined to change
Trip comes to life upon return home
Mitch Kurylowicz was nine years old when his mother, Lynda, and his aunt embarked on a volunteer adventure to the Maasai Mara in 2007. Kurylowicz wanted her son to experience life in another part of the world.
“If I knew what I know now, I would have taken him at an even younger age,” she says. Although initially nervous, Kurylowicz found that once they arrived in Kenya and connected with the “kind and hospitable” Me to We staff, her apprehension melted away.
Together, they travelled to the rural village of Salabwek, one of the many communities in the eight countries where Free The Children, an international charity, partners with community members to break the cycle of poverty.
Through Me to We trips, travellers have the chance to not only immerse themselves in the local culture, but also contribute to sustainable development in a Free The Children community.
In Salabwek, Mitch met elementary students at the opening of a new school. As part of the ceremony, students lined up to receive new pencils for the school year. For Mitch, something as seemingly insignificant as a pencil took on new meaning.
“It’s incredible that these kids want education so much. All the joy of the kids in Kenya, and how the education system is working – I took it back to Ottawa,” says Mitch, who felt he had taken his own education for granted in the past. Education, he realized, was the first step toward being able to make a difference “(Now) I go to school because I actually want to make a change in the world,” he says.
Back at home, Mitch couldn’t wait to take action. He rallied his middle school classmates and together they raised $5,000 in two weeks for Free The Children’s alternative income projects. Other fundraising initiatives followed, and his parents noted a growing confidence and maturity in their son. “He changed while he was there [in Kenya],” Kurylowicz says. “He learned at nine that ‘if I have
to stand up and do some public speaking, it’s not really that hard compared to what other kids have to do.’”
While Mitch was leading the charge with fundraisers at school, he was excited to also bring Free The Children home. He got his chance in 2011, when he travelled back to Kenya on another Me to We trip, this time with his father, as well as his mother.
During the trip, the Kurylowiczs attended the celebratory opening of another school— Kisaruni All Girls Secondary School, which gives girls the chance to attend high school, something they are often prevented from doing in rural Kenya. And the timing of the trip, it turned out, made for some interesting parallels.
“Mitch was getting ready to go to high school the following September, and we were trying to find the right school for him,” Kurylowicz says. “He was asking lots of questions, like: ‘If I lived here, where would I go to school?’” During the opening ceremony, Mitch was moved by the proud parents of the 40 girls who would be first to attend the high school. But he was left with the nagging question—what about secondary education for the boys? Kisaruni sets an unmatched educational standard in the area and there is no equivalent for boys.
Mitch brought the question home. And, he came up with a solution— Project Jenga, a fundraiser for an all-boys school in Kenya that would be like Kisaruni, but for boys. Mitch’s parents were instantly onboard. The trip to Kenya had brought this already tight-knit family closer together, and Project Jenga had given them a goal. “We are moving together from our experience,” says Kurlowicz. “The train has left the station.”
And the family shows no sign of slowing down. “When I went to Kenya the first time, I saw one Free The Children country,” says Mitch. “I don’t just want to stop at Kenya, because I will never learn more if I just stop at one place.” With that in mind, Mitch is heading to rural China on a Me to We school trip this summer, and then to India with his family in December. With each trip, Mitch feels the responsibility to bring home what he’s learned.
It’s a discovery at the heart of every Me to We trip.