Montreal 6th grader sets the bar for supporting human rights

When three Canadian children heard about the challenging plight of refugee women and children at Heshima Kenya, they decided to take matters into their own hands.

Inspired by the passion of their aunt, Rosalind Raddatz, who serves as the Chair of Heshima Kenya’s Kenya Board of Directors, Gabrielle, age 11, Abaigael, age 9, and Noam, age 7, have set the bar for exemplary philanthropy. In the past several years, the young ambassadors have been selling homemade gifts and trinkets to fundraise for Heshima. Last year, the family even travelled from their home of Montreal, Canada all the way to Nairobi, Kenya to present their donations and meet the girls and children at Heshima Kenya! To watch a re-cap video of the family’s trip to Nairobi, visit Heshima Kenya’s Vimeo page here. As Gabrielle is preparing to graduate from 6th grade, her outstanding generosity to Heshima Kenya is being publicly recognized. Each year, the Montreal School Board presents two 6th grade students with the Irwin Cotler Award for Social Justice, which honors students who "best exemplify the act of improving the world and fighting for social justice." Not surprisingly, due to her passion and her involvement in solutions to the refugee crisis, Gabrielle received this prestigious award. Her principal, who wanted to illuminate Gabrielle’s impressive contribution to global human rights work, nominated her for this award. Gabrielle is not done yet. She is now working to collect even more donations to support Heshima’s physical education programs at our Safe House. The staff and girls at Heshima Kenya want to extend our deepest congratulations to Gabrielle for her fantastic award and a huge thank you to Abaigael and Noam for all of their hard work. Your dedication truly makes a positive impact on the life of these refugee girls!

Inspired by the passion of their aunt, Rosalind Raddatz, who serves as the Chair of Heshima Kenya’s Kenya Board of Directors, Gabrielle, age 11, Abaigael, age 9, and Noam, age 7, have set the bar for exemplary philanthropy. In the past several years, the young ambassadors have been selling homemade gifts and trinkets to fundraise for Heshima. Last year, the family even travelled from their home of Montreal, Canada all the way to Nairobi, Kenya to present their donations and meet the girls and children at Heshima Kenya! To watch a re-cap video of the family’s trip to Nairobi, visit Heshima Kenya’s Vimeo page here.

As Gabrielle is preparing to graduate from 6th grade, her outstanding generosity to Heshima Kenya is being publicly recognized. Each year, the Montreal School Board presents two 6th grade students with the Irwin Cotler Award for Social Justice, which honors students who "best exemplify the act of improving the world and fighting for social justice." Not surprisingly, due to her passion and her involvement in solutions to the refugee crisis, Gabrielle received this prestigious award. Her principal, who wanted to illuminate Gabrielle’s impressive contribution to global human rights work, nominated her for this award.

Gabrielle is not done yet. She is now working to collect even more donations to support Heshima’s physical education programs at our Safe House. The staff and girls at Heshima Kenya want to extend our deepest congratulations to Gabrielle for her fantastic award and a huge thank you to Abaigael and Noam for all of their hard work. Your dedication truly makes a positive impact on the life of these refugee girls!