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In the Beginning... ". . . in 1986 while building a school in Nicaragua we were lying on the floor due to the shelling and machine gun fire and someone remarked, 'Wouldn't it be great if there were students here to see this?'" |
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In the Beginning... ". . . in 1986 while building a school in Nicaragua we were lying on the floor due to the shelling and machine gun fire and someone remarked, 'Wouldn't it be great if there were students here to see this?'" |
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Third World Awareness started in 1989 when a Toronto Catholic School drama teacher named John Calaghan put out a notice asking if any students would be interested in traveling to Kingston Jamaica to work with the poor. Fifty-four students signed up and after that first year the trips became a regular pilgrimage during the school's March Break. John Calaghan retired in 1998 and thought that the following trip in 1999 would be his last. This would not turn out to be true as several former students who were now in University asked him to keep the trips going. The travel time was changed from March to May in order to accommodate the students' University schedule. They soon afterward established the group as an official Charity naming it Third World Awareness. A unique and exciting aspect about the group is that although it started in a Catholic School, the trips adhere to a non-denominational, non-politically correct philosophy. No one with a true desire to serve is rejected. Participants come from various religious backgrounds as well as non-religious backgrounds. The majority of the past trips have been to Kingston, Jamaica and now we are focused on Haiti. It is our hope to return to Jamaica and we have maintained our relationships there. In 1992 the group went to Nicaragua. Third World Awareness Fact Sheet TWA Contributors and Executive
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