this issue

Message from the Co-Founders P.1

Our Team P.2

BPP Update Canada P.3

BPP Update Trinidad P.4

Special Projects, Partnerships and

Collaborations P.5

BPP Art Exhibit P.7

BPP in the Media P.8

Whats Inside the Backpacks P.9

Eligibility Criteria P.9

How To Get Involved P.1

Thank You P.11

Some Fun Stuff P.12

A b out t h e Backp ack P ro j ect

The Backpack Project ISSUE

SEPTEMBER

2012

02

The Backpack Project is a non-profit initiative aimed at promoting health and education among Caribbean stu-dents between the ages of 5 and 18 years. The Backpack project, which was started in December 2008, assists students of impoverished families to pursue their educa-tional goals through the shipment and distribution of pre-packaged backpacks containing school and personal supplies.

Students are identified by Caribbean educators who then notify the organization of the students’ needs. Once eli-gibility is confirmed, backpacks are then assembled, shipped and distributed to the students. Upon receipt of the backpacks, the students then maintain regular corre-spondence with The Backpack Project regarding their progress both inside and outside of the classroom.

M e ssag e f ro m t h e Co -Foun der s

E NS URING T HAT E VE RY CHI LD IN T HE CA RIB BE AN HAS T HE T OO LS NECES SA RY T O RE CE IV E

A B AS IC FO RMA L E DUCATI ON

Greetings from The Backpack Project Team. Hopefully you have all had a good year so far. This has been a very productive year for us thus far and we hope to keep the momen-tum going throughout 2012. Not only have we shipped and distribut-ed backpacks to deserving students in Guyana, Trinidad and Haiti, but we were able to collaborate with several organizations and secure several new sponsors. We are thankful to all of our family and friends who contin-ue to support us, all our generous sponsors, donors and volunteers who give so willingly, and most of all we are thankful for the opportunity to make a difference in children’s lives.

Michelle Kandasammy and Melissa Enmore, Co-Founders The Backpack Project

Contact Information

Website backpackproject.ca

Email Address

thebackpackproject@gmail.com

Contact Numbers

647-207-6355 (Canada) 868-781-4034 (Trinidad)

Lets Get Social

You can also find us on

Wh at ’ s i n ou r b ackp acks? Stationery Items Backpacks Erasers Lined Paper Notebooks Binders Pencils Pens Highlighters Folders Scientific Calculators Geometry Sets Rulers Health/Personal Items Combs Soaps Deodorants Hand Sanitizers Lotions Toothbrush Toothpaste Shampoo Conditioner Sanitary napkins

SCAN ME !

The Backpack Project Team

2012

Co- Founders/Directors

Melissa Enmore Michelle Kandasammy

Secretary/Country Leader-Trinidad

Karelle Clark

Director Daniel Yearwood

Director of Strategy

Michael Omitiran

Treasurer Jamohl Rutherford

Newsletter Editor

Ntianu Hector

Secretary/Country Leader- Trinidad Karelle Clark

Treasurer Jamohl Rutherford

Director Daniel Yearwood

Director of Strategy Michael Omitiran

Let’s break the cycle of poverty one backpack at a time! As a non-profit organization, The Backpack Project depends on donations from sponsors and individuals, as well as help from our volun-teers. Find out how you can help to break the cycle of poverty one backpack at a time.

Become a Sponsor We are always grateful for corporate partners who help us achieve our mission. Please do not hesitate to contact us at thebackpack-project@gmail.com to find out how your company can help.

Become a Volunteer As a growing organization, we are in constant need of additional support. Whether you are based in one of our locations or abroad, we could always use your help. Please email us at thebackpackproject@gmail.com if you’re interested in becoming a volunteer.

Make a Donation We accept donations in cash or credit via our Paypal account, as well as in-kind donations of stationery and personal items. For a list of the items needed and to donate these items please email us at thebackpackproject@gmail.com

Check us out on and

Ho w t o g et i nvo l v ed

Newsletter Editor Ntianu Hector

A non-profit organization that helps de-serving children in the Caribbean, The Backpack Project continues to thrive in 2012. Thus far in 2012, 45 backpacks were shipped to Guyana, 27 backpacks were distributed in Trinidad, and a barrel containing backpacks full of stationery and personal items was shipped to Haiti. In Trinidad, 9 additional students were inducted from Rose Hill R.C. School in Laventille therefore bringing the total number of students sponsored to 19. The Backpack Project inducted a new school, Arima Boys Government School - induct-ed 8 students into our programme. Also refills for previously sponsored 18 stu-dents total at Nelson Street Boys and Sa-cred Heart Girls RC School. Of the 45 backpacks shipped to Guyana this year, thirty-five were shipped to the Guyana Red Cross Convalescent Home, and 10 to deserving students at St. Rose’s High School. Our goal for 2012 is to dis-tribute a total of 86 backpacks in Guyana, 65 in Trinidad and 10 in Jamaica. As our organization continues to expand our reach within the Caribbean, several important partnerships have been formed. St. Roses Alumni Association's Toronto Chapter has come on board, sponsoring 10 children at St. Roses High

School in Guyana. We have also partnered with ASAP and Jam4Jamaica to send 10 backpacks to Jamaica in September. As well, The University of Western Ontario’s Caribbean Students’ Organiza-tion not only donated to The Backpack Project, but officially added a charity component to their organization and selected The Backpack Project,

as the organization with which they will be offi-cially affiliated with and support in the upcoming 2012/2013 school year.

By Melissa Enmore and Michelle Kandasammy

The Backpack project has expanded their sponsorship this year and the above maps show how many schools are spon-sored in our home countries Trinidad and Tobago and Guyana. In Trinidad, The backpacks represent Rose Hill R.C. School, Arima Boys Government School, Nelson Street Boys and Sacred Heart Girls RC School. In Guyana, the back-packs represent Queens College, Tutorial High, St Roses High School and Guyana Red Cross Convalescent Home. Not shown on these maps are donations to Jamaica, Haiti and the Phillipines.

The Backpack Pro ject Col lect ion Dr ive 2012

—T r in idad and Tobago

A collection drive was the furthest thought from our minds given that every year, there is usually a plethora of back to school drives for orphanages and needy children in August. BPP did not want to be seen as just another collection drive so when my friend Marisa Albert approached me with the idea, I have to admit, I was a bit skeptical. Howev-er, being the organizational and determined fairy that Marisa is, she held a meeting at her apart-ment and called on our friends to pitch in. After about 2 weeks of planning, the BPP collection drive 2012 was underway! My skepticism was soon subsided as 3 SMEs in Trinidad came on board to push our cause. Tropi-cal Dry Cleaners, BeadCafe and WrapWorks Deli offered their premises as promotion and collec-tion points for our drive. The power of social me-dia prevailed and not only did we receive support from persons within Trinidad and Tobago but per-

sons living in North America and the Car-ibbean reached out to offer donations. A heartfelt thank you goes out to writer/journalist, Lisa Allen-Agostini, who by see-ing our efforts on Fa-cebook embraced our organization and did a feature on our organiza-tion in the Trinidad Guardian (to read more see the press release section). Banker’s Employees’ Association Credit Union and F.E.E.L jumped on board and donated generously to our drive – a feat that could not have been achieved as easily without the push from Marisa and the publicity generated by Lisa.

In our next issue, I will report on the results of the collection drive: the joys and the woes!

Blessings, Michelle

Growth in the Car ibbean

Everyone tends to think of our organization as a charity and the children we look to uplift as charity cases. Let me be the first to correct just about everyone! We are proud of the children who are in our programme and we are fortunate to be healthy and re-sourceful enough to help others receive a formal education. Our students are sponsored by our programme and like any scholar-ship programme, the idea is to motivate and empower our stu-dents to complete their basic education in order to raise their standard of living. A famous quote by the incomparable Ms. Oprah Winfrey defines what The Backpack Project believes: “I think education is power. I think that being able to communicate with people is power. One of my main goals on this planet is to encourage people to empow-er themselves.” One of our tactics to remove the charity stigma is awarding a The Backpack Project certificate to all of the students inducted into our programme which states that each of our students is a ‘high potential,’ student. This year we were invited once again to Rose Hill R.C School’s graduation and we were welcomed with open arms by Arima Boys’ Government School. Certificates were also distributed to Queen’s College, St. Roses High School and Tutorial High School in Guyana.

By Michelle Kandasammy

One of our BPP students graduating from Primary school proudly with her backpack for Form 1 in hand! With Karelle Clark — at Rose Hill, Laventille Trinidad .

Michelle Kandasammy presenting BPP certificates to Queen's College Headmistress, Mrs. Hollingsworth. The certificates will be awarded to the inductees in the BPP Programme. — in Guyana.

Co-founder Michelle Kandasammy presenting BPP certificates to Tutorial High School's Headmistress and staff members . — in Guyana.

BPP Volunteer Yohance Ayodike presenting to Mr. Fleming Principal of Arima Boys Govern-ment School (Trinidad) BPP Certificates to be given to awardees at their graduation cere-mony. — in Arima, Trinidad and Tobago.

Student awards and Backpack for presentation to the graduating class and other pupils — at Rose Hill, Laventille Trinidad .

This Month’s Q&A Technology Tips

As part of the Backpack Project’s (BPP) on-going efforts to foster all-rounded scholastic interest in students, we solicited the assistance of school representatives at three of the BPP sponsored schools - Sacred Heart Girls’ RC School, Nelson Street Boys’ RC School and St. James Sec-ondary School in which BPP organized a small arts and crafts project for the children enrolled in the BPP pro-gram. This exercise was based on the theme “how can I help Trinidad and Tobago be a better place to live?” Each student was given the opportunity to showcase his/her artistic abilities, utilizing the mediums of poster/watercolour paint, crayons, colour pencils, pastels, mark-ers, charcoal and magazine clippings; in a format no larg-er than 11 inches x 17 inches in size. These works of art would be used by the BPP to better assess the specific interests of each BPP sponsored child; in order for our team to build upon the strengths and interests demon-strated through each child’s art work.

Additionally for participating, Pizza Hut (Trinidad and To-bago) provided vouchers to BPP for distribution to each student who submitted a work of art, as a token of ap-preciation for the student’s hard work; and as a special thank you to them for participating in our exercise.

By Karelle Clark Certificates of Participation for each student who submitted art work and vouchers to Pizza Hut

In June 2012, students at St. Joan of Arc Catholic High School donated 29 backpacks as well as sev-eral containers full of school and personal sup-plies. BPP Director of Finance, Jamohl Ruther-ford’s sister, Nydia Rodrigues, is currently a grade 11 student at St. Joan of Arc Catholic High School in Maple, Ontario. Her leadership class wanted to

undertake a fundraising project to contribute to a non-profit organization and Nydia, having volun-teered with BPP in 2011 at Last Lap Lime, boldly that her class donate to BPP. She then connected me with her leadership teacher, Alessandra Caschera, to whom I explained the BPP process and how we go about assembling and packing

backpacks. After receiving the list of items each backpack contains, Alex then instructed her stu-dents on how to go about fundraising for BPP. Together, they assembled and packed 29 back-packs in addition to collecting about 5 boxes full of school and personal supplies. Students in Nyd-ia's leadership class, as well as other students at

the high school contributed to this very successful fund-raising venture. On Mon-day, June 18th, Jamohl and I went to St. Joan of Arc to personally thank Alex and her students and present them with thank-you cards, a BPP certificate, and some BPP t-shirts. We thanked the principal with a card, after which she let us know that she would like students at her school to continue contributing to BPP. . As a result, next year's grade 11 leadership class will be con-tributing to BPP, in what will hopefully be another con-tinuing partnership.

By Melissa Enmore

The Willowdale Seventh-Day Adventist church, one of the most multi-cultural Seventh Day Adventist churches in Toronto, has orga-nized a mission trip to The Philippines in August 2012. The Back-pack Project has collaborated with The Willowdale SDA Church and has donated 16 backpacks, which the Willowdale youth will distrib-ute to the deserving students in The Philippines in August.

Willowdale Seventh– Day Adventist Church

St . Joan of A rc H igh School S tudents con-

t r ibute to The Backpack Pro ject

BPP : The Ph i l l ip ines

In April 2012, The Backpack Project partnered with ASAP and Jam4Jamaica, an annual party for a purpose that aims to raise funds to pro-vide educational scholarships to deserving children in Jamaica who reside in inner city or rural communities. The second year of this annual event, held April 21st at The Sheraton Centre Hotel in Toronto, was a success as the fun was put back into fundraising and people were encouraged to make a difference while having fun. The proceeds of the fundraising event will support 10 children from the Riverton Com-munity in Kingston who were identified by

Ryerson University, Student Crossing Borders Organization (SCB). ASAP and The Backpack Project have partnered with SCB to distribute the funds and backpacks to the children in Jamaica. Backpacks will be shipped and dis-tributed to these 10 students in September for the 2012/2013 school year. We at The Backpack Project look forward to an ongoing partnership with ASAP and Jam4Jamaica as we continue to alleviate poverty in Jamaica through the shipment and distribution of backpacks.

By Melissa Enmore

Carmen Logie, a research scientist and colleague at Women’s College Research Institute in Toronto, was awarded a grant to use solar-powered tablets to teach women about HIV preven-tion in Haiti. However, as Carmen observed, Haiti not only struggles with soaring HIV infection rates but also with poverty, particularly since the devastating earthquake January 2010. As such, Carmen collaborated with The Backpack Project in Febru-ary 2012 to provide a barrel of stationery and personal supplies to Haitian children. These items were donated by the generous staff at Women’s College Research Institute who contributed stationery and personal items which were then shipped and dis-tributed to the children at Yoleine’s NEGES Foundation, a Hai-tian not-for-profit organization. We hope to continue to allevi-ate poverty in Haiti one backpack at a time.

By Melissa Enmore

The Backpack Pro ject Col laborates w i th

ASAP and Jam4Jamaica

BPP in Hai t i

Shereen Ashman of ASAP and Jam4Jamaica putting together the backpacks for Jamaica

Above: Backpacks to be delivered to students in Jamaica Left: Student Recipients in Jamaica

Student Recipients in Haiti

Thank You Sponsors

Thank You Vo lunteer s

The Backpack Project continues to expand because of the gen-erosity of our Canadian, Trinidadian and Guyanese donors and sponsors including Queen’s College Alumni Association, Tuto-rial High School’s Alumni, Trinity College, Women’s College Research Institute, Faith United Ministries and the most re-cent addition to our list of sponsors, St. Rose’s Alumni Associa-tion and University of Western Ontario’s Caribbean Students’ Association. As a growing organization, we depend heavily on your contributions, both monetary donations made online at www.backpackproject.ca and in-kind donations or sponsor-ship. We are counting on your continued support in 2012 as we change children’s lives, one backpack at a time.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all those who so willingly volunteer their time and energy contributing to the growth and development of The Backpack Project. We appreciate all your hard work and want you to know that we could not do this without you. Thank you for your time and tal-ents and we look forward to your continued contributions to our organization in the future.

New Sponsor 2012: The Bank Employee's Credit Union donated per-sonal hygiene items for all 65 of our students with Jillian Gittens - Fi-nancial Supervisor of BECU and Michelle Kandasammy.—in Trinidad

Former Queen’s College students Plan to Tack-

le Poverty One Backpack at a time. Caribbean News Review PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad (April 17, 2012) - “Education should be a human right, not a privilege and each child should be entitled to a basic educa-tion.” These are the ideals upon which The Backpack Project was founded by two long-time friends Melissa Enmore and Michelle Kandasammy who discovered each other’s passion for children and education through Face-book quiz, 25 Things You Don’t Know About Me. The Backpack Project, a non-profit initiative which started in December 2008 is aimed at allevi-ating poverty through the promotion of education and health among Car-ibbean students. Now a registered not-for-profit organization in Canada and Trinidad and Tobago, the organization is committed to ensuring that every child has the necessary tools needed to receive a basic formal edu-cation. Melissa and Michelle grew up in Guyana where the harsh realities of pov-erty are often a hindrance to children receiving a basic education. Alt-hough not experiencing poverty themselves, their exposure to it was a main motivator for the creation of The Backpack Project. The backpack recipients, 5- to 18-year-old students who demonstrate a need and cur-rently enrolled at preparatory, primary or secondary schools across the Caribbean, are afforded student scholarships to continue their education. In order for students to receive backpacks, they are first identified by edu-cators, who then notify The Backpack Project team. Upon confirmation of a student’s eligibility by the Backpack Project Board, backpacks are assem-bled, shipped and distributed to deserving students. Each student’s scho-lastic performance is monitored as a condition by the Board for future sponsorship. After completing a successful pilot project with Queen’s Col-lege Alumni Association’s Toronto Chapter as a sponsor in 2009, the or-ganization forged ahead and sponsored a total of 74 students throughout Trinidad and Guyana over the next two (2) years: 64 in Trinidad and 28 in Guyana. The organization has established educational partnerships in Guy-ana with Queen’s College, Tutorial High School and Rotaract Club of Lin-den while in Trinidad with The Child Guidance Clinic, Sacred Heart Girls’ R.C. School and Rose Hill R.C. School. Today the Board comprises of a team of aspiring, young social entrepre-neurs whose long term goal is to improve access to education in economi-cally depressed communities and to develop future community leaders. The Board has decided to commit themselves to ensuring that all stu-dents—not just the most advantaged or the most gifted—acquire the knowledge and skills they need to end the intergenerational cycle of pov-erty and lead healthy, productive lives. The organization is managed virtu-ally through social media, such as Facebook, Skype and Blackberry Mes-senger since the Directors are scattered throughout Trinidad, Canada and the United States. The Backpack Project team is currently establishing vol-unteer teams in Guyana, Trinidad and Canada. It recently launched its website www.backpackproject.ca along with its Facebook Fan Page where persons can find out how to donate items or via Paypal, keep up to date with expansion projects in the Caribbean and find out how to volunteer. As a strategic decision, the Board sought to partner with organizations with ties to individual Board members in order to develop credibility as a start-up organization. Therefore, relationships with organizations such as the Queen’s College Alumni Association’s Toronto Chapter, The Rotaract Club of Linden (Guyana), Tutorial High School Alumni Association’s Toron-to Chapter, TD Bank (Greater Toronto Area), Anytime Fitness (Greater To-ronto Area, Canada), Business Development Company (Trinidad), John Dickinson West Indies Limited (Trinidad) and Faith United Ministries (Canada) were crucial to achieving its yearly objectives. In 2012, The Backpack Project continues to expand its operations in the Caribbean through special projects. In February, BPP partnered with Women’s College Research Institute to sponsor 30 students at the Youleine Neges Foundation in Port Au Prince, Haiti and in September it will partner with Jam for Jamaica to sponsor 20 Jamaican students. http://www.caribbeannewsreview.com/index.php/caribbean1/news/92-former-queen-s-college-students-plan-to-tackle-poverty-one-backpack-at-a-time

The Backpack Project By Lisa Allen-Agostini

The Guardian Free education is not free. Though in principle all children in T&T have ac-cess to free schooling, not all of them can afford to take up the offer. Gov-ernment already provides free textbooks, breakfast, lunch, and tuition, you might note, and it is up to parents to provide the other necessities for attending school. Yet, it’s not always easy for parents to do so. As a parent myself I can tell you the cost of outfitting a child for school is high, even with all the above provided free. Each child has to have a book bag, for one. Textbooks might be free but stationery isn’t, and you might cast your own mind back to your days in uniform to remember what it was like to forget a copybook at home, or to not have a copybook at all. Even apart from other things like uniforms and shoes, there are also personal hygiene requirements like deodorant, soap, toothpaste and a toothbrush, without which a child would be embarrassed to sit in class or might even be put out of class in some situations. Recognising this, a group of young people has sought to help some Caribbean children seize free education. Melissa Enmore and Michelle Kandasammy have come up with The Backpack Pro-ject, a non-profit group that aims to provide assistance to needy children by giving them a backpack full of stationery and personal care supplies once a year. “The Backpack Project believes that education is a basic hu-man right, not a privilege, and that health is a key factor determining the success of a child’s development,” the Project says in its mission state-ment. “The organisation will encourage the pursuit of formal education amongst underprivileged children in the Caribbean by providing basic school supplies and foster a healthy learning environment by providing personal supplies to backpack recipients. The Backpack Project hopes to leverage the resources of its sponsors, do-nors, volunteers and other stakeholders in a collaborative manner to fur-ther its objective of universal childhood education in the Caribbean.” I find it personally heartening that the Project has not only been able to do its work in Guyana (where Enmore and Kandasammy are from) and Trinidad (where Kandasammy lives), but also extend it to Haiti and the Philippines in two special programmes. The Project sends filled backpacks to students, shipping them in a barrel where necessary. The students, aged five to 18, are identified by educators and through individual requests, and must agree to have their school careers tracked as long as they participate in the project. So far the Project has given over 100 backpacks to Trinidadian and Guyanese students since it was formed. With the help of the public, they can give more. The Backpack Project is in the middle of a collection drive, which ends August 18. Members of the public can give either cash or kind: sponsor a filled backpack, which costs about $515, or donate the items needed to fill one. (Cash donors can also give part of the cost of a filled backpack.) The Project still needs for this year: 60 pens, 40 pencil cases, 24 drawing books, 25 bottles of shampoo, 25 bottles of conditioner, 60 notebooks, brown paper, 50 tubes of toothpaste, and 50 toothbrushes. Kandasammy said in the organisation’s December 2011 newsletter, “Nothing quite prepares you for the joy on the children’s faces when they see the bags with their names on [them]. The warm unexpected hugs re-ceived from the students of Rose Hill RC took me by surprise. After briefly talking to the students about their classes and their goals for the year… I walked out of Rose Hill RC more determined than ever that we must fulfil our promise to continue to sponsor all of our kids and to expand our pro-gramme.” In this region so fraught with inequity, poverty and poor gov-ernance, it is easy to throw one’s hands up and surrender to the apathy of selfishness, doing for oneself and ignoring others’ problems. It is much harder to engage with those problems, to sit and consider how one can actually make a difference in the world in which we live, and particularly the country we inhabit. It is refreshing to encounter people who try to change things for the better. The Backpack Project is one organisation of a group of young people who are doing just that. Join them. To give to The Backpack Project, a registered not-for-profit company, go to: www.backpackproject.ca or e-mail thebackpackproject@gmail.com. You can also call Michelle Kandasammy at 781-4034 or Karelle Clark at 497-4847. http://www.guardian.co.tt/columnist/2012-07-09/backpack-project

By Kamaral Bassier Increased physical activity has been associated with an increased life expectancy and decreased risk of cardiovascular disease. Physical ac-tivity produces overall physical, psychological and social benefits. In-active children are likely to become inactive adults so it's important to get them started at a young age. Some of the countless benefits of physical activity include: • controlling weight • reducing blood pressure • raising HDL ("good") cholesterol • reducing the risk of diabetes and some kinds of cancer • improved psychological well-being, including gaining more self-confidence and higher self-esteem Regular exercise benefits children physically, psychologically and so-cially. It can help them sleep well and improve their mental health by making them feel less stressed, more self-confident and better about their life and the world around them. Team sports and other activi-ties that require interaction with people can help improve a child's social skills, including their ability to communicate and collaborate with their peers and mentors. Physically, age-appropriate exercise strengthens children's bones and muscles, in addition to increasing their endurance, flexibility and strength. In the process, it can help children maintain a suitable weight and healthy blood cholesterol and blood pressure levels. Children who are physically active are also more likely to continue exercising regularly as adults; they may also adopt other healthy practices as children -- such as eating a nutritious diet, for example -- that they may carry with them into adulthood. Physical activity should be increased by reducing sedentary time (e.g., watching television, playing computer video games or talking on the phone). It should also be fun for children and adolescents. Playing ball, playing tag, bike-riding, going up and down stairs, climbing trees, walking, or karate -- it all counts as exercise. Children and teenagers should participate in at least 60 or more minutes of physical activity most days of the week. Support your child by setting a good example. Try to add physical activity to your daily routine and encourage your children to join you. Also, it's important for you to de-crease the amount of time your children currently spend on sedentary activities; limit their screen time of television, video games and web surfing to no more than two hours per day. If your child or children don't have a full 60-minute activity break each day, try to provide at least two 30-minute periods or four 15-minute periods in which they can engage in vigorous activities appropriate to their age, gender and stage of physical and emotional development.

Kamaral Bassier, Co– Owner Anytime Fitness– North Ajax. Collaborator with the Backpack Project