S.A.M.E. launches Migrant Worker Awareness Week tour

TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - Feb. 25, 2013) - Get on board! S.A.M.E. (Students Against Migrant Exploitation) is about to embark on an historic journey - to engage students across Ontario to defend human rights and fight for migrant worker justice. The journey begins March 18, at Brock University in St. Catharines; the first of a series of S.A.M.E. events in support of Migrant Worker Awareness Week 2013.

Since its launch in 2010, S.A.M.E has become Canada's leading student movement to empower and inform youth on issues about migration and migrant workers. "S.A.M.E. aims to inform the broad community about the harsh reality that tens of thousands of migrant workers who come to Canada face each year," says Pablo Godoy, the coordinator of the S.A.M.E. program. "We conduct a lot of our outreach and programs through the Agriculture Workers Alliance (AWA) which supplies support services through 10 migrant agriculture worker assistance centers across Canada. Migrant Worker Awareness Week is another opportunity for students and youth to inform themselves about the tremendous contribution migrant workers make to our community."

In 2012, S.A.M.E. partnered with Guelph University Professor Kerry Preibisch and her fourth-year sociology class to launch Canada's first-ever Migrant Worker Awareness Week - with seminars, videos, films and seminars on the challenges facing migrant workers in Canada. Encouraged by the enthusiastic reception by hundreds of students in 2012, S.A.M.E. has expanded the 2013 Awareness Week tour to reach across the province.

Staying true to the S.A.M.E. philosophy that the best way to motivate young people is through other young people, ten S.A.M.E. student volunteers will host seminars for other students at campuses across Ontario including the University of Guelph, Brock University, Queen's University, York, McMaster University, George Brown College, Sheridan College, as well as at a number of elementary and secondary schools.

"The goal of S.A.M.E. during Farm Worker Awareness Week is to encourage cross-cultural understanding of migration and migrant workers," says Godoy. "And to show students how they can make a big difference when it comes to social justice in their community during Migrant Worker Awareness Week and throughout the year."