What We’re Meant to Be: High School Students Share Their Spoken Word at the Legislature  

On February 2, 2026, three high school students shared a spoken word poem for MCIC’s Voices for Change project, which is facilitated by spoken word poet Steve Locke, at MCIC’s International Development Week kickoff event at the Manitoba Legislature. It was released that same week as a YouTube video. 

Two students were from the Winnipeg School Division. Ali, 17, came to Winnipeg from Syria, after living in Lebanon, in 2016. Sami, 16, left Afghanistan when he was nine and lived in India until coming to Winnipeg in 2023. The third student, Tobi, 17, was from the Brandon School Division. Tobi came to Winnipeg from Nigeria in 2022. 

Ali and Sami had met before Voices for Change at an after-school program at which Ali volunteered, and to which Sami had just been introduced, where they bonded about their experiences escaping war and conflict.  

When asked in the application for this program about why youth voices are important, Sami spoke about the importance of youth in decision making. 

“If the table where global decisions are made doesn’t have youth at it, the future will be designed without the people who’ll live in it the longest.” 

Tobi spoke about the perspective that youth bring and how it differs from other generations.  

“I believe the perspective of young people like myself should be considered and projected in shaping the policies that direct the future. Our voices are often the most creative because we shed our light through innovative thinking, so we’re able to find solutions to situations where the older generations may overlook.” 

Ali, who also participated in 2025’s Voices for Change, added: 

“I think it is important for youth to have a voice in global issues because a lot of youth are very intelligent and know what’s going on. They are also the voices of the future.” 

This year’s spoken word poem is centered around themes of peace, justice, and what it means to be a global citizen, and it was performed in front of the student’s families and teachers, as well as government officials and some of MCIC’s member organizations.  

The students were interviewed by CBC’s Nadia Kidwai, host of The Weekend Morning Show. You can listen to the full interview on CBC Radio.