EF’s Canadian Youth Ambassadors is a transformative leadership opportunity that empowers youth to create change at local, national, and global levels. Through community support, mentorship from Members of Parliament (MPs), Senators, and other business leaders—plus perspective-building experiences abroad—EF Canadian Youth Ambassadors creates experiential learning opportunities for students. In the first two years of this five-year initiative, we’ve had some truly inspiring ambassadors, including Stella Bowles, 14.
Stella’s EF Canadian Youth Ambassadors journey began with one simple question: “Why can’t I swim in the river?”
The LeHave River in Nova Scotia, near Stella’s home, was too polluted for her and her friends to swim in—and she wanted to know why. She tested the water quality as part of a science fair project and was shocked by the level of contamination she found. So, she let the world know—by posting her results on Facebook. She quickly gathered a large following and caught the attention of her Municipal Council.
The contamination was traced back to 600 straight pipes funnelling 1000 litres of raw or partially treated sewage directly into the water from homes along the river. The thing is, the use of straight pipes is illegal under the Nova Scotia Environment Act and so a change had to be made.
The Girl who saved the river
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