Irum Khan
If you had to recall your college years, chances are you would reminisce about being set on a perpetual timer, preoccupied with career options and life choices.
However, the undergrads at Canada Confesses, whom I first met in 2022, were in stark contrast: their awareness towards themselves and society, which is seldom the case with students, smashed stereotypes. Therefore, it was a unique, refreshing, and hitherto untold story.
If I had to describe them in four words, they would be young, cheerful, energetic, and enthusiastic. Their uplifting vibes and ideas for a better society made me wonder: Are they the real deal?
The realization dawned on two individuals named Nancy Tangon and Priscilla Ojomu that the country still had vast ground to cover regarding mitigating racism and systematic inequalities because these were preventing people from living with dignity. These ladies accepted the challenge and founded Canada Confesses, a hub for engaged Canadians from allied or equity groups to create projects and thrive.
They host several sub-projects and initiatives to tackle societal, institutional and individual social injustices.
These include the following:
- The Resource Database
- Read, Watch & Learn (RWL)
- A-Z Activism Vocabulary Project
- Confessions
Pic: Nancy Tangon (left) and Priscilla Ojomu (right)
The organization has grown exponentially into an all-encompassing platform since. It now engages with over 16,000 Canadians across social media platforms, providing them a safe space to share their stories.
Even their website, canadaconfesses.ca, is a platform for people to post their confessions anonymously. Moreover, the submissions to it and the curated resources have helped amplify the voices of those affected by social injustices, provide direction to the clueless and lend a hand to the helpless.
Besides confessions, Canada Confesses promotes awareness for Canadians about the issues their nation faces and provides them with the resources, tools, and knowledge to act to lay the foundation that the country’s social fabric needs to adopt.Moreover, they also have the opportunities to volunteer and engage in thoughtful discussions with like-minded individuals.
Canada Confesses bases all its activities on the targets of the United National Sustainable Development Goal 16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions.
The founders said social injustices often went neglected because the systems were oppressive. They added that they had seen firsthand how misinformation and a lack of awareness could result in communication gaps and perpetuate social injustices. They said that motivated them to mobilize a primary youth-led grassroots team to tackle ignorance and apathy towards social issues. For that, they received the backing of SDG Hub, a program from the Alberta Global Council for Cooperation.
The organization is a beacon of hope that the light of humanity is still burning, assuring those struggling that they are not alone in their battle.
It recently received a grant worth $5,000 from the Alberta Civil Society Emerging Leaders Microgrant Program, which recognized the powerful impact it has had in a short span.
