News and event information for Williams Lake, BC - as it happens.

By Suzanne Whittingham 

There is a saying that, 'Good things come in small packages'. Spencer West, 'Me to We' motivational speaker, standing tall at 2 foot 7 inches, proved this dictum admirably with his talk to the capacity crowd at Williams Lake S.S. on Monday, February 22. Born with a rare genetic disorder that saw the complete amputation of his legs at the age of 5, Spencer quickly put everyone at ease in his audience about his legless state with jokes about these appendages having been “sawed off at a magic show and unfortunately not been reattached” to “being eaten off at a campsite by hungry campers when food ran out.” 

(Photo:  Megan Peach, Spencer West and Mike Archie.)

Spencer hails from a small town in Arizona, and currently lives in Toronto, where he has been working for the organization, 'Me to We' as one of their motivational speakers. He spoke to the students about many of the issues of child labour, child poverty, child slavery and the need to be motivated to “be the change in the world”. The themes behind his talk were simple, but Spencer admitted in his talk that his understanding of their deeper meanings did not come right away. His predominant themes were “Be happy every day”, “Be the change in our world” and “Stand up for what you believe in”. 

With a combination of pictures, video and stories, Spencer West's talk moved along quickly. He opened with the story of what had moved Craig Kielburger, founder of 'Free the Children', parent organization of 'Me to We'. He spoke about the details of the day that changed Craig Kielburger's life forever. The picture of the original article loomed large and real for all eyes. 

Spencer said, “It was April, 1995, and twelve year old Craig was looking for the comics in the paper. The headline, 'Labourer, Boy 12, Murdered', stopped him cold. He read about the tragic yet inspirational life of Iqbal Masih. At the age of four, Iqbal had been sold into slavery for the equivalent debt of $16 American. For six years, this boy laboured over 12 hours a day, chained to a loom, tying knots in carpets. He would never make enough money to free himself from this bondage. An International Rights Organization would free him. After being freed, Iqbal captured the world's attention speaking for the rights of children. It was Iqbal's murder, headlined on that fateful day in April that became Craig Kielburger's motivation to find a way to help children in such desperate situations with the eventual creation of the organization 'Free the Children'.” 

Spencer West spoke about his own personal experiences with bullying to the challenges of living life without legs and the emphasis people placed upon his disability. He highlighted some of his personal battles to overcome adversity. With support and encouragement from family, especially his mother, there were notable triumphs that emerged along Spencer West's unique path. Spencer outlined how he was determined to find a sport that he could participate in while in High School. His father had been a basketball player, and with him being his parent's only son, he wanted desperately to do something to garner his father's admiration. After eliminating football and basketball, he came up with cheer-leading. Yes, cheer-leading. To everyone's amazement, he bounded out of his wheel chair and performed a cartwheel to the enthusiastic applause of everyone. He then hopped back into his chair, and proceeded with his talk.

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