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Greetings everyone,
I'm writing you from the Caribbean where I'm warming up after a cold stretch
in Canada during the holidays. The sunny weather gets me into writing mode.
Many of the songs from The Woman In Me and Come On Over were written in the
tropics so it's a good place for me to be creative.
I wanted to give you a peak at some of the footage Fred grabbed during my
trip to Ontario over Christmas and New Years so I put together a montage of
bits and pieces to share with you.
There were many highlights, but the key ones were sitting by the tree
singing old songs with family, hanging around in comfy clothes and doing
nothing but enjoying a relaxing evening by the fire. It was cold and snowy
outside, warm and cozy inside.
My cousin Kenny and I kicked a few songs around as we tried to remember how
they went. The jamming is pretty rough, but real, and thought you would
appreciate the authenticity of it, even if it is poor, home quality.
The once-in-a-lifetime experience of carrying the Olympic torch along its
journey to the final stop in Vancouver, BC for the winter Olympic Games was
an energizing opportunity. I was worried about the length of the run as I
didn't want to embarrass myself by arriving at the cauldron out of breath.
It turned out we were ahead of schedule, and I was asked to take my time and
even stop periodically so I didn't get to the cauldron too early. When Eja
saw me after the run, he said, "Mom, it is called an Olympic torch run
because you are supposed to RUN, not WALK!" The temperatures were pretty low
so running the whole way would probably have, ironically, kept me warmer. In
any case, it was an awesome 300 meters and I will cherish the honor forever.
Another highlight was hosting a national radio show called "The Current".
The focus of the segment was on underprivileged children. I interviewed Her
Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah of Jordan who shares an interest in helping
underprivileged children through education on an international level. Her
initiative is called "1Goal". She is doing amazing things in her effort to
bring equality in education to all children of the world. I asked her to
speak with us on "The Current" to discuss our mutual goals on live radio, in
hopes of heightening the awareness to the general public.
I also interviewed Raffi, a world-famous children's songwriter who has
created the Centre for Child Honouring on Salt Spring Island, B.C. On the
flip side, I had a conversation with rapper Cadence Weapon, who had an
interesting perspective on how rap music can affect children in a positive
way and talked about his interaction with children through his poetic music.
In a joint effort with the Canadian Red Cross, we were also able to raise
over $120,000 for a program they have created to help educate
underprivileged families about the prevention of child neglect and abuse.
I was also able to interview two experts, Katreena Scott, a professor in the
Department of Human Development and Applied Psychology at the University of
Toronto, and Jeanette Lewis, Executive Director of the Ontario Association
of Children's Aid Societies, who shared insight relating to their individual
experience in their respective fields regarding underprivileged children.
They gave engaging input on the various issues surrounding the matter.
You will note on my website information about a program that I'm personally
creating to help underprivileged kids through education - Shania Kids Can.
You can read more about the program by clicking on the link
www.shaniatwain.com/shaniakidscan.html.
Overall, my Christmas holiday trip was fulfilling, inspiring and
enlightening in many respects - a wide variety of activity between family
time, winter weather pleasures, local culture and sport, charity and music.
I hope you enjoy the recap.
I hope your start into 2010 has been a good one, and I will be in touch soon
with more news on what's happening on my end. Love, Shania |
