June 3, 2021
Waterlution’s Young Water Speaks (YWS), Youth Storytelling Project and Contest
Young Water Speaks, Waterlution Youth Storytelling Project and Contest
Featuring: Gr. 5 Student, Lizmorl Koroma
Grade 4/5 students in Div. 16, Ms. Lam/Mr. Sol’s class had an opportunity to participate in Waterlution’s Young Water Speaks (YWS), Youth Storytelling Project and Contest in the spring.
Over 2500 youths across Canada engaged in this national youth storytelling project. Waterlution is a federally registered Canadian non-profit organization founded in 2003, and has successfully established itself as an internationally registered water-focused organization. It offers capacity building, youth-driven action and community engagement; an urgency in change-making to help mitigate the impacts of climate change, which are the drivers for what the world needs now. For more information about the organization, please visit their website here.
In the YWS Project, our students were inspired by our local waterscapes and history, with a focus on place-based learning through online storytelling workshops led by Waterlution’s trained Youth Advisory Board Volunteers. As a class, we were able to learn more about our traditional, and unceded territory of the Qayqayt First Nations in New Westminster, and use this knowledge to develop a water story that connects to our personal experiences, as well as ideas to support the urgency of taking care of our waters and lands. In addition, we were deeply engaged in Indigenous story books including: The Water Walker, Nibi’s Water Song, and We Are the Water Protectors. It was amazing to see our students share their water stories in creative ways, and connect with a local waterscape that really speaks to them.
Lizmorl Koroma chose to write a song titled “Water Song” about her favourite waterscape, Cultus Lake, which is where she enjoys spending time with her family, and in her own words “a place where I would never want to see change.” Lizmorl’s song really captures the essence of taking care of our earth, and asks for us to please stop polluting our waters. Lizmorl wrote and sung: “We all need this planet to live there is no going back, so we need to start changing our ways so we can live alright today. It’s time to change, time to starting changing our ways.” Her powerful message has touched the Youth Advisory Board’s hearts, and she was selected as the winner of her age group within the Pacific Region of Canada. Lizmorl’s “Water Song” will be featured in the YWS Travelling Exhibition this summer/fall, and will be shared across Canada. Please click here with more information about the project.
Further, Lizmorl’s song was also featured on Waterlution’s social media pages. We encourage you to listen to her amazing song and her inspiration for creating it. Here are the links below: Waterlution’s Instagram Waterlution’s Facebook
Let’s put our hearts and hands together for Lizmorl Koroma! Lord Tweedsmuir is extremely proud of Lizmorl for making a positive difference, and will be reminded each day that we need to be mindful of how we are taking care of our earth, “so we can live alright today.”
Thank you, Lizmorl, for your incredible and touching song…