From raising awareness about the treatment of girls in Afghanistan, to advocating for peace, these young Upstanders are proving that no one is too young to make a difference. They joined more than 100 other students at the Museum this May to share their work at the largest ever Upstander Showcase. We hope you are inspired by their creativity, passion and desire to make the world a better place.
The plight of girls in Afghanistan
When Setayesh came to Canada two years ago, she was finally free. Free to learn, free to choose her own future and free of the Taliban’s harsh laws imposed on women and girls. But Setayesh’s friends remained in Afghanistan. “I want the world to see what they are going through,” she says. “They can’t go to school. They can’t move freely.” At the showcase, Setayesh shared five of her paintings that tell a powerful story. “I want every single girl that still lives in those conditions to know that her life matters,” she says. “We will continue to stand up for your rights and your future.”
Healthy foods, grown yourself
Grade 6 student Rime wanted to bring awareness to the benefits of growing your own food. She created a program called Farm Ed to help teach others about the benefits, including less of an impact on the environment. “Farm Ed is not just a program about food and farming — it’s also about helping people and protecting their rights,” says Rime. “Everyone has the right to be healthy, to learn, to eat good food, and to live in a clean and safe environment.”
Young lives cut short
Students from Collège Pierre-Elliot-Trudeau wanted to reflect the struggles of children in situations of war and conflict. They chose to represent this by re-creating a life-size game of hopscotch. The final squares of the game are marked with dripping lines of glittering red beads, to represent how violence cuts young lives short. “Every child should have and deserves a happy, safe and educational youth,” says the group. “Circumstances should never take away such a fundamental human right.”
Advocating for immigrants
Lina, a Grade 9 student, wanted to raise awareness about the harsh realities many newcomers have to face. As an immigrant herself, she chose to create a shield with two contrasting images. One side of the shield represents the hope of starting a life in a new place, while the other reflects how those hopes are often crushed by harsh realities. “I hope that a lot of people take a moment to learn more about immigration and the barriers that some have to face,” says Lina. “If more people speak up for what is right, we can change the world for better.”
How exclusion hurts communities
Grade 11 student Gavin chose to bring awareness to a past human rights violation that he has a personal connection with — the Chinese Exclusion Act. This law prevented Chinese people from immigrating to Canada for decades, until 1947. “I chose to use strong visual contracts — light and dark, crowded and empty, tidy and messy — to highlight what the Chinese community brought to Canada, and what they lost when they were excluded,” says Gavin. “I hope my work will make viewers think about how exclusion hurts not only the excluded, but the entire community.”
Viewing history through a new lens
Harleen, a Grade 11 student, wanted to bring awareness to the Doctrine of Discovery and how it was used to justify colonialism. She created an interactive bioscope — a visual storytelling device that lets people scroll through a series of narrative panels. The construction of the display is intentional. The black box symbolizes the hidden aspects of colonialism, while the lit interior “illuminates each illustrated scene, calling emphasis to critical moments of loss, resistance and cultural survival,” says Harleen. “It acts as a reminder that respect, acknowledgment and expressing the truth are essential to protecting human rights, supporting healing, and advancing reconciliation efforts across generations.”
Working together for peace
Can working together create peace? Students from Niverville High School certainly think so. After learning about the threat of nuclear weapons at the Youth Nuclear Peace Summit at the Museum this winter, the students decided to raise awareness about this issue. They are working on a mosaic depicting a nuclear explosion, made up of 290 squares. Visitors at the showcase were invited to add their own square with a message of hope, symbolizing the cooperation required for a peaceful solution. “Art is a language that is universal, and being able to use it allows you to communicate things that words never can,” says high school student Eddy.
Learning about their rights
Grade 3 students at Ecole South Point wanted to learn about their rights. But they didn’t stop there. They wrote and illustrated a book to help other children understand them too. “All children have rights, no matter what language they speak, where they are from or what they believe,” says the book. “You should feel safe and loved.”
We hope you are inspired by the students taking action on human rights issues through the Be an Upstander program at the Museum. This would not be possible without your support. Thank you so much for your compassion and generosity!