Why PWRDF?

By Jessica Steele, PWRDF Youth Council Resource Committee Chair
Jessica is from Victoria, B.C., and is currently living in Vancouver

Lately, my evening commute has coincided with the six o’clock news. There are people who are stuck in war-torn countries. Other are having their homes and livelihoods decimated due to the effects of climate change. Still others are being oppressed and are having their human rights violated daily. There is injustice. There is hurt.

And while it is easy to get sucked into a negative view of our world, we need to use that rightful anger towards injustice in a positive way. I have decided to respond by being on the National Youth Council of The Primate’s World Relief and Development Fund. While I know that there are lots of aid organizations, I believe that PWRDF is an extremely effective and well-run relief and development organization. Why? Here are four reasons:

1. PWRDF works with local partners. Instead of going in and doing projects that ‘we’ think should be put in place, PWRDF walks alongside local partners and supports them based on their needs and vision. Their guiding principle is to listen and learn from partners.
2. PWRDF engages young people from across the country. There are multiple ways that young people can engage in social justice through PWRDF. At home, youth can use the multitude of resources available on justgeneration.ca. Young people can become representatives at the Diocesan level as a justgeneration.ca Diocesan Ambassador or at the National level as members of the National Youth Council. PWRDF prioritizes youth and gives them the opportunity to give back in a world where many of us are longing to make a tangible difference.
3. PWRDF works both in Canada and abroad. Whether it is in Tanzania engaging in food security, Thailand engaging in human rights or here in Canada engaging in Indigenous people’s right to water, PWRDF thinks locally and globally.
4. PWRDF is part of the Anglican Church of Canada. As a result, PWRDF already has a cross-country network of members engaged in its work. Many engagement or fundraising events are organized by dedicated parish volunteers and diocesan representatives. We are hundreds of people who are passionate about development and relief and are responding to our baptismal covenant by taking a stand for social justice.

We are called to respond to injustice and to love kindness. My response has been to join The Primate’s World Relief and Development Fund National Youth Council. How will you respond?