The Anniversary Project

Following up with my last post, there’s another website also owned by Nance Ackerman, the director of Four Feet Up.   Ms. Ackerman crossed Canada and interviewed 20 families and children about their lives in poverty.  It has been 20 years since the Canadian Government unanimously passed a bill in the House of Commons to end child poverty in Canada, and thus the website is  called “The Anniversary Project”.  This is a compelling website.  Just click on the year and it opens a window into the life of one of these kids.   I, personally, was powerfully struck by 20-year-old Julie, found under the 1990 tab, who lives in Vanier.  This is the community that City Kidz Ottawa is currently reaching.  Take a look, it’s well worth the few minutes.

Four Feet Up

When I was doing a little research on poverty in Canada last year, I came across an excellent documentary called Four Feet Up.  This is  a film that documents the life of eight-year-old Isaiah, one Canadian child currently living in poverty.  It’s a great perspective and I highly recommend it as something everyone should watch to have their eyes opened to the realities of poverty in Canada. Here’s a preview.  You can order the full-length documentary from the National Film Board of Canada.

Four Feet Up–National Film Board of Canada

Another great resource is found on You Tube. It’s the TVO Parents presentation entitled “Child Poverty in Canada: Why are 10 Percent of Children in Canada Poor”.   One member of the discussion panel is Nance Ackerman, the woman who filmed the Four Feet Up documentary.  This is a little lengthy (about an hour) but it’s well worth the view if you’re interested in the subject matter from a Canadian perspective:

TVO Parents

A Good Principle…

When I think about last year, it amazes me just how much we really accomplished in Ottawa.  I mean, I only just connected with Todd Bender in the spring of 2010 to let him know we were considering opening a branch in Ottawa and wham! six months later we were already launched and well into our first City Kidz season.  Looking back, it’s all a little surreal to me.  I never would have thought that I’d be able to accomplish something like this in just a few months.  I owe it all to excellent prayer support, careful planning, finding a great team who was willing to jump on the pioneer wagon with me, much appreciated church sponsorship from my home church and last but not least, ongoing coaching from Todd. 

Key to the success of this, however, was setting a launch date right from the get go.  Todd is very big into setting a reasonable target date to launch and I believe this was the incentive that kept things in motion.  Failing to pick a date often results in launch objectives being pushed back as anomalies arise to thwart your progress.  Humanly speaking, when we are faced with a problem we have a tendency to take the path of least resistance and will work to overcome the problem at a slower pace (or not all) with the result that all our lofty goals get put on the proverbial shelf until we can move on.  With a date chosen, our perception of an unexpected obstacle changes from something that pushes our launch date back into something that needs to be overcome to meet the date.  Typically we end up finding a way where there is no way and the target date is met.  I know for a fact that City Kidz Ottawa had more than one of these “anomalies” arise during our start up phase, but every one of them was overcome with a little creative thinking. 

I suppose this is all Management 101 but I’m impressed because it works.  I’m sure it’s one of the main reasons why, after only a few months of planning (and LOTS of hard work), City Kidz Ottawa was able to launch and touch the hearts of children sooner, rather than later.

…And ONE for all!!