12.04.09

Hello beautiful ladies (and gents!)

Today is our last day on this tour.  We have toured all of Ontario, for 3 weeks, in 27 schools.  Can someone say: “WHEW!!”.  I love my job, and am blessed to be able to rap for a living, but I think I’m ready for a break…  Until next spring when we do 2 months across Canada!  

I promised many of you that you would see your school, your faces, and your stories in this blog. This is by no means ALL of our pictures!  I probably have 1000 pics or more from just the last 3 weeks! These are just a select few… courtesy of y’all.  If you don’t see yourselves here, you can also check out my Web site Pics and also Masia’s Blog! 

I have learned so much over the last 3 weeks. I have learned that in certain areas of Ontario, a girl is 8x more likely to be abused.  I have learned that there are many instances of girl on girl bullying going on in the schools we visited. Which makes no sense to me; we already face many obstacles, as women, so why would we want to make it even more difficult for each other?!  I have learned that young women around the world have more in common than not. We are all faced with pressures to look, talk, act & dress a certain way.  We all have the ability to be a part of a ripple effect of change.  Women are really the centre of their families and therefore, on a larger scale, their communities and countries as a whole. Imagine what one empowered woman can accomplish?!

But most of all, I have learned firsthand of the beauty, intelligence, resilience, power and hope that the next generation of women hold.  I have seen this firsthand in all of you.  Never stop dreaming.  Never stop fighting. Never stop working towards a world where our ‘Girls Rights’ presentations will no longer be necessary.

Until the next time I am blessed to see your smiling faces…

I thank you all, humbly

eternia.

p.s. click on the pic to enlarge!