First Leg Final Stop!

The HaltGenocide tour members were excited as we entered the final stop of the first leg of the tour. Windsor welcomed us with a pleasant but quite environment as most students had already left the campus for the upcoming reading week and those around were studying for midterms. But that didn't stop us and we kept it positive.

We got to work, as soon as we were done with set up, by handing out flyers to students around the Campus center and talking to them about the tour and the reason for the initiative. The students were very friendly, receptive and engaging despite the fact that they were studying for midterms. Many wanted to attend the teach-in however the short notice and midterms got in the way. Aside from all this we were still able to draw a fairly good count of students for the Teach-in. The best thing about the Teach-in was that most of those who attended were non-Tamils and were very engaged and interested in learning more!

After the Teach-in ended we got a very positive response from attendees, again reiterating the importance and critical role such an educational initiative has on the masses. I also had the opportunity to connect with some key organizations on the campus such as the Human Rights office and OPIRG (Ontario Public Interest Research Group - Windsor chapter). They were very impressed at the work we were doing and are looking into working with us.

On the way back to Toronto, we were joined by two non-Tamil students from the student union who Nishanthan and Sahab were able to build a good relation with.

Reflecting back into the past four days, which flew by real quickly, I realize that we were able to not just educate those we interacted with but also empower ourselves and them at the same time. When you see people coming together for a certain cause, sharing knowledge and experience and have the willingness to work in solidarity, you truly feel the meaning of slogans such as "The people united will never be defeated!". Through this tour I had the great opportunity to work with an amazingly driven team and meet peace loving people from different walks of life who truly appreciated what we were doing.

We should not waste time and we need to keep on taking on initiatives like these. We should not stop till we accomplish our goals and end the suffering of our Tamil people in Sri Lanka.

Goodluck to all the activists from our newly formed networks and the team headed out for the second leg of the tour!

Wishing Love, Peace and Solidarity,

Minnal Sivan

"The future belongs to those who prepare for it today." - Malcolm X