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Sarah Switzer just won the first Jacques Hébert Global Citizenship Award, presented by The Trudeau Foundation, in partnership with Canada World Youth (CWY). Switzer, who currently works as an intern with TWU’s Global Projects department, participated in CWY’s 2003-04 Ontario/Tanzania Program.

Switzer, of Vancouver Island, says that she was shocked to have won the award and that the nomination alone was “a form of encouragement that was so awesome.”

Switzer will travel to Montreal to attend and receive her award at a conference Dec. 8 commemorating Hébert’s life and work. The award includes a $3,000 cash prize.

The award was created in memory of Hébert (1923-2007), a Canadian writer and politician who founded CWY in 1971 to promote the global awareness development of young people through intercultural volunteerism. The CWY website states that the award recognizes the achievements of past CWY participants who have worked to implement community projects that promote peace, tolerance and intercultural understanding.

CWY’s core program provides the opportunity for youth aged 17-24 to volunteer for three months in a Canadian community followed by three months in an international community. Each Canadian participant partners with an international youth for the duration of the six-month program.

Switzer, through her involvement with CWY, first went to Owen Sound, Ont., volunteering in the community at places such as the Alzheimer Society and the public library. She then traveled to the Tanga Region of Tanzania where she and her counterpart worked to create a directory of resources that listed local non-governmental and community organizations.

She has since established two library projects unrelated to CWY in the Tanzanian villages of Kwekitui and Chimazi.

Her desire to continually return to Africa is evidence of a concern for social issues that God has instilled in her, said Switzer.

“There was always a fire under my butt for Africa,” she said.

The focus of her projects is to develop grassroots ideas that will encourage sustainability, economic growth and volunteerism.

“The transforming effect of volunteerism on a community is amazing – universal,” said Switzer. She saw this effect first-hand when Tanzanian women volunteered to help build the library in Kwekitui.

Following the completion of her internship, one of Switzer’s plans is to work with Under the Reading Tree, a Vancouver-based NGO that is working to promote literacy and a love of reading in Africa through establishing community libraries. Under the Reading Tree has adopted the Kwekitui library that Switzer helped start, and helped to provide needed financial assistance.

Switzer said she would love to talk with any students interested in her works in Tanzania.

For information about the Kwekitui Community Library you can visit http://www.givemeaning.com/project/library.