AMY HICKS

Published in the North Shore News June 2nd 2006 about the PAIS Youth Outreach Project

Wanting to Make a Difference
By Amy Hicks

One of my fondest memories in elementary school in the UK is when a couple called Brian and Sue used to visit us on a regular basis to give assemblies and presentations.  They weren't particularly financially 'rolling in it' and nor would they have been deemed 'professional' by the professionals themselves. But the one element to them that I remember the most was their charisma, and their ability to get themselves etched into my memory, even as I enter my early twenties.

It was memories of wonderful people like that, that were 100% driven by a passion for what they wanted to do, that drove me to join a British youth and schools group that plants themselves into an area for a year or more, and works to connect the local school with the local church.

I've grown up always wanting to make a difference. It seems to be a part of my make up, and I remember as a kid, on a few occasions, taking friends and family down to my local duck pond to pick litter. And then as I grew older, I joined the school council, I got involved in as much as I could as a teen at high school, and then one summer, I suddenly found myself becoming a Christian and joining a local church in my home town.

Since then, I've found my passion for wanting to make a difference explode. Being a girl, I guess people expect you to play with dolls and talk about horses and boys. Which I did, no doubt (and continue to do.), but there was and still is, something inside of me that leapt and explodes into life when I watch Superman, X-Men, Spiderman. I'm passionate about the concept of being a hero-and after a long time of thinking; I truly believe that it's not for personal gain. I totally, 100% believe that it is just who I am. Whether you believe it or not, you are created for a purpose. Whether that is to head up a family, start a world changing business, start a city changing charity, or whatever. My purpose, I have discovered, is to work with people-to try and make a difference.

That's why I moved to Vancouver with this charity.  For a start, I wanted to see a new part of the world and then I realised the actuality of what I was embarking on when I first stepped into a school January of 2005. I met amazing children, wonderful and passionate Grade One students in a school downtown and all I did was make bead key chains with them as a helper in a lunch club. But it was incredible. Then as the year went on I was able to volunteer at a funded reading program where I worked with the same class twice a week helping with one-to-one reading. I was privileged to experience these beautiful six year olds grow in their ability to read. That was it I was totally pumped and fuelled and again, this year I have fallen in love with twenty incredible, mind blowing six year olds, who I have the joy of working with three mornings a week.

I know I'm doing it-I know that I am living the life that God has created for me, and it is so exciting.

I'd love to challenge you-find that thing that gets you totally fired up inside, it can be anything! And do it. Get out there and live the life you are called live -whether or not you believe in God.

You will be amazing.

Amy Hicks