PeaceGeeks connects BC Newcomers with Virtual Neighbours
For more than 11 years, PeaceGeeks has been growing from a grassroots volunteer group to a nonprofit leader in building technology for peace.
PeaceGeeks (PG) has collaborated with various communities to put technology tools and digital literacy in the hands of citizens, peacebuilders, human rights defenders and humanitarian responders.
Every year, PG runs a campaign called #GiveItUp4Peace, partnering newcomers to BC with like-minded individuals for 60 minutes of time together. In this time, newcomers could discuss life, work, BC and anything that may help settle their nerves about their recent immigration to Canada.
This year, East Side Games was honoured to partner with PeaceGeeks for the #GiveItUp4Peace initiative.
Community is everything at ESG and this was a chance to boldly act upon that ideal while encouraging participants to be their authentic selves. . We were grateful for the opportunity to warmly welcome newcomers to a community with which they may not have been familiar, and hopefully help them feel a sense of belonging. Simultaneously, as we’re collectively curious, it was a chance for us to listen and learn from other perspectives.
Ten of our ESG’rs became virtual neighbors and spent an hour of their day making connections with these newcomers. We matched their time with a donation to PG to support the organization’s continued efforts to build digital tools and allow for more companies and people to be able to participate and benefit from the campaign as we did.
The process was fast and easy. Registration took less than five minutes through a link provided by PeaceGeeks. Shortly after, participating ESG’rs got an email with more instructions on how to be a good virtual neighbor. Within a week or so, they were perfectly matched with a newcomer. It was then up to our ESG’rs to book a time of 60 minutes with their newcomer and make a meaningful connection, showing them what it is like to be and ESG’r and more broadly speaking, a part of the Canadian community .
PG let us know that 100% of participatingESG’rs indicated that they were happy or extremely happy with the experience.
“I liked being able to chat with someone with similar experiences despite being in different locations of the world,” reads a response from the survey issued by PeaceGeeks at the close of the campaign.
One of the newcomers paired with an ESG’r shared their thoughts as well, noting how much they appreciated the program as well as their new friend.
“We had so much to talk about that we could probably go on for 3 hours! He gave me tips and tricks about screenwriting and talked about his experience in the industry; it was so helpful in terms of thinking about my career path and perfecting my craft. I am so glad I met him — such a humble, nice, and talented person,” they said.
The impact of #GiveItUp4Peace, on all participants, is undeniable. ESG looks forward to working with PeaceGeeks in the future and encourages other organizations and companies to do the same. We wish all of the newcomers in the #GiveItUp4Peace campaign success, good fortune and well-being. Thank you PeaceGeeks.
