Time flies when you're changing the world.
Some say there is no uniquely Canadian identity, that our multicultural fabric is too varied to establish a common thread. I disagree. My grandfather came to a country that celebrates diversity, embraces strife with compassion and respects selfless idealism.
Service learning connects classroom studies to real-world issues, with hands-on activities and problem solving. Youth can study biology and ecology by testing the water in their own community; or learn about statistics, calculating the food supply and usage at the local food bank.
Any child who dreams to do good in the world has Mandela as his hero. I own a dog-eared copy of 'Long Walk to Freedom' and visited Robben Island, where he was imprisoned, to stand in a cell only as wide as an arm's span.
Many say that a man comes along with the moral courage of Nelson Mandela once in a lifetime. He was an extraordinary man who paid a great sacrifice for his beliefs, then led a nation from the prospect of civil war to reconciliation.
We've found that service learning builds life skills, leadership and a sense of global citizenship that makes helping a lifelong habit.
In the We Connectivity Hub, three global classrooms fitted with Skype technology from Microsoft will bring workshops, leadership training and mentorship to the most remote and unreachable rural communities in Canada - especially Indigenous communities - without having to fly thousands of kilometres to an urban centre.
My grandfather didn't come to Canada for his own sake. He didn't leave behind his family to cross the Atlantic and be knocked to the canvas. He came here so that his son, my father, would have a better life.
My grandfather came to Canada from Romania just before the Second World War, already in debt after buying his boat ticket on borrowed dime.
There's no magic bullet to end poverty in the world. But if you could, the closest thing to it would be basic primary education.
My own service started when I was 12, with the small charity I launched with 12 friends. Twenty years later, millions have joined our ranks - educators, business leaders and prominent Canadians.
I met children who want to be social workers, lawyers, doctors, community activists and soldiers so they can help their people rise above still difficult economic circumstances.
Sometimes it takes a child to raise a village - or to take down an injustice.
And in rural communities we've worked alongside, Haitians are doing far more than merely recovering from the earthquake. Many are creating long-term sustainable change.
Success to us is not just a girl overseas going to school - but also leading her village to a better future.
Despite the value to Canada, our country lags in competitiveness in the global social economy.
We learned that kicking down doors to free children from carpet factories isn't enough to stop child labour - we had to tackle the underlying poverty in which their families lived, through education.
There may never be another Madiba. But instead of waiting for the next Nelson Mandela to emerge, those whom he universally inspired are now looking to themselves and each other to build their own dream together.
The nature of education fundamentally has not changed in a century - and I say this as someone whose parents are both teachers.
We want to end poverty and protect our environment. But we think the most efficient way of achieving that is to change the way a generation of young people is educated. That's how you'll shift the world.
