Two Girls Offer Thoughts After Attending Orcas Woman’s Coalition Meeting

— from Trillium Swanson —

Riley Helms and Piper Shaepe, 11-year-old girls, sat down with Funhouse Commons Mentor Program Coordinator Trillium Swanson, to share their thoughts on attending The Orcas Women’s Coalition quarterly meeting in January.

Trillium: Why did you want to attend the Orcas Women’s Coalition meeting?

Riley: I came to the Orcas Women’s Coalition meeting for a chance to talk to some pretty important women leaders. That’s a pretty good opportunity. You don’t get a lot of opportunities when you live on a small island. It was important because it was showing women leadership, it showed that we can do something. And I want to let people know that two eleven year old girls care about this, because it’s important. I wanted to talk to Deborah Lekanoff about stuff she does, outside of her job. She did answer my question about that when she talked about being a kid. But I kind of wish that she had responded to me in a different way. I don’t want to be rude, but she did not answer my questions. She just led her answer back to what she wanted to talk about. It felt like she wanted people to hear a lot about her, and she seems like a nice woman, but I wanted straight answers.

“We can be a small community, or we could be a really big family.”

Trillium: What stuck out to you about the women leaders who were a part of the panel at the meeting?

Piper: They put their heart and soul into changing things. Even a minor change. Even if they don’t get famous for it, a little thing can change a lot. Because they’re all very strong and brave, to go up in front of a lot of people and try and change even a little thing.

Riley: I thought it was inspiring that they saw something in the world that was going on and they aspired to change it.

Trillium: What is a vision that you hold onto that motivates you to make changes in the world?

Riley: One thing that I’ve been holding on to is not letting people judge you for who you are. You have to let that go. Change yourself if you want to, but don’t let someone else change you.

Trillium: What are ways that you are a leader at school, or in our community?

Piper: If I saw someone getting bullied, I wouldn’t just be a bystander. I would find the person who was hurt and get them out of that situation.

Riley: I am on student council, and we make decisions. Even if they’re small.

Trillium: Who do you look up to?

Riley: I look up to my Dad. Because when he was 18, he raised me. He raised me to who I am now. Even when he was in tough times, he had friends who he could rely on and look after me. I think he’s done a great job raising me. When you’re a young parent, I think it’s really hard, because you are working out your own life. I also look up to my step mother because she has a ten year old and a two year old, and that’s tough. They have done a great job raising me.

Piper: I look up to my great grandma, because she is going through tough times. She is 97 and living by herself. And she has to deal with five adult kids. She lives on Waldron. And I look up to my Mom, I look up to her, and she looks up to me. I think it’s nice when you realize how many people look up to you. I think anyone can look up to anyone. I’ve looked up to younger kids, because they’re really smart.

Riley: Those women up there, they were people who people look up to. Because they were showing that women have power. I think everyone is equal. Whether you have a different skin color, a disability, you don’t feel like your given gender, it doesn’t matter, that’s you.

Piper: Those women probably all looked up to someone, and then they became leaders because they wanted people to look up to them, too.

Riley: In conclusion to all of this, I think that that meeting was great, and even though some of my questions remain unanswered, it was great. And all of those people had gone through challenges in life, and they still managed to make a difference. They should be proud of their accomplishments.