‘For Our Daughters’ Finale a Success!
The girls singing 'Welcome'
On Wednesday, November 23rd, guests gathered at the historic Vogue Theatre which provided the ideal setting in which to celebrate the finale of the For Our Daughters Tour. The guests of honour included four young speakers from Ghana – Beatrice, Gladys, Fayudatu and Faiza, as well as Shannen O’Brian, the founder of Create Change, the organization which helped faciliate the girls’ high school education. The girls captivated the audience with their incredible and heartwarming stories and wowed all who were present with songs from their homeland. Isabel Prosper got up on stage and informed all of Shannen’s latest initiative, Karma Exchange, and spoke of unique opportunities for Vancouverites to “shop with heart.”
In addition, two Canadian bands, the Reckoners and the Boom Booms rocked the house. The Reckoners opened, offering beautifully romantic melodies. The Boom Booms, recent 2nd place winners of the Peak Performance Project, upped the tempo with their unique blend of latin, soul, funk, rock and reggae. Just as they promised, their music had nearly everyone out of their seats and dancing along. The four young ladies from Ghana even joined them on stage, demonstrating that their talents don’t just stop at singing.
Guests offered extremely generous donations to the Create Change Foundation, all of which will go toward more education projects in Northern Ghana. It is no doubt that in the eyes of all who were present, the night was a complete success, leaving many with a new awareness of the changes we can make from right here in Vancouver.
It was a distinct honour and privilege to be present during an evening of stellar testimonials offered as a portion of a thought provoking project being undertaken by Create Change. Specifically, each of the young women displayed an amazing modicum of poise and grace while delivering a message that was in its simplicity, a plea for equality and opportunity for all on the planet. I left wanting to do so much more for children, not only in Africa, the thrust of the evening’s discourse, but also to renew my personal quest aimed at assisting those closer to home in our country, Canada.
The moderator and “spark plug” for the entire initiative, Ms. Shannen O’Brian was nothing short of sensational in her personable and sincere attempt to “reel in” the support so sought after by the Foundation. I love you for who you are and what you are so unselfishly working toward. Special cudos for those behind the scenes, notably Ms. Sandra O’Brian, proud mother and tireless facilitator, the staff and the musicians who made the evening a howling success.
Thank you so much! We aimed to achieve three things: entertain, inspire and increase awareness. We hope we achieved all three!