Interviewing Carvey is one of my favourite things I have done with my Upstanders.
Who are my Upstanders?
They are the awesome kids who join me weekly for my Upstanders Academy.
What is my Upstanders Academy?
Upstanders Academy is an online social justice experiential learning program for youth ages 8 – 13, where we talk about real world issues and come up with actions we can take to help make things better. I connect with, support and empower these beautiful kids through meaningful and impactful experiences, conversations and mentorship.
Who is Carvey and why was it so exciting that we got to interview him?
Carvey Ehren Maigue is an electrical engineering student in the Philippines, who has invented the most fantastic solar panels, made from food waste that can collect energy from the sun even when it is not shining.
I watched this video with my daughter in early January 2021 about Carvey and his amazing new solar panels. I was so excited by this invention. I told my daughter that this has the power to change everything – something we didn’t even know was possible before has been thought of by an amazing person in the Philippines, and it could change everything. She says that we have to interview him for our Upstanders Academy then. So we did! You can watch the first clip of it here.
What I love so much about this work I do is thinking of all the different ways that these kids could possibly take what they are learning with me and use that in their futures to make the world a better place. Who knows what conversation is going to spark a life long interest in a topic? Who knows what idea seed planted in their mind will sprout at some point in their future to help lead them to work that makes them feel inspired and fulfilled? All of this brings me so much hope and joy. Which I think we all need an extra dose of right now.
We have our next session of Upstanders starting next week. It will be a short session, just 4 Thursdays. We are going to delve into the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP). We are going to take as many of the Articles listed in UNDRIP as possible and explain them, show some examples of what it looks like if Canada is respecting them or not respecting them. And end with a recorded presentation of our research/work to share.
You can get more info here.