Today I spent lunch hour with Mark R. Isfeld Secondary School's Grade 9 Global Studies class. They were awesome; a very engaged and curious group. They gave me a cheque for Child Soldiers Initiative, one of the two NGOs supported by The HEAL Project. The kids were extremely proud and excited about their incredible accomplishment. They also took turns telling me about facts they had researched and their continued work to build awareness and end the use of child soldiers around the world. Thank you very much GS9. You rock!

A special thanks goes out to a unique class at Carihi High in Campbell River, BC. The course is called "Peer Support." It focuses on the philosophy of service to others instead of leadership and fundraising. I love this idea. I was invited to speak at the overnight retreat they had in Oyster Bay, British Columbia. I spoke, discussed and answered questions for about 2-3 hours. What I didn't know is that the class had already been at work raising money for The HEAL Project. More importantly though, these bright students were grasping the concept of ending the use of child soldiers through everyday actions and by cultivating empathetic relationships with each other. It was an honour to spend time with this group and connect in a giant Hugpile too! $80 will be donated to War Child Canada.

Here is a video about The HEAL Project. Please share it with your friends, family and colleagues. Let's end the use of child soldiers by building strong communities around the world that support one another. Most importantly, let's have fun doing it.

Speaking at the TEDxIsfeld event in 2011 was a really enjoyable experience for me. More importantly though, it gave me a chance to explore storytelling in a totally new way and dive deep into my own psyche to explore my motivations and fears. My talk this year is about Facing The Fear of Success in the literal and metaphorical sense. I speak about the evolution ofThe HEAL Projectand the acceptance of my chosen/destined purpose.  Some people say that eradicating poverty or the use of children in wars and conflict is "impossible;" I believe otherwise and hopefully you will too after watching this video. Please leave a comment when you're finished and share it with your friends.

The site was launched today. Let's make some history by eradicating the use of child soldiers and stopping the exploitation of children.