A private bus takes Calgary students on a human rights tour

A technologically advanced mobile human rights education bus made a special stop in Calgary to teach young minds about the Holocaust and Canada's human rights history.

But this is not just a bus, it is A tour for humanity experience.

Tamer Ackle, a student at Queen Elizabeth High School in Calgary, who attended one of these special sessions, shares her experience.

“It's good to have these sessions so that they (children) can learn more. We have to stop racism and we have to be kind to everyone,” he said.

Visiting Calgary's Queen Elizabeth High School on Wednesday A tour for humanity The bus allowed students to participate in a Canadian Experience workshop that covered topics such as residential schools, human rights abuses during the First and Second World Wars, and cyberbullying.

Another student, Anna Bella Lin, shared what she learned.

“I know everything Canada has done in the past to discriminate against others and we must never do it again. We have to learn from our mistakes.”

Since its launch more than 10 years ago, the bus has reached more than 200,000 students, teachers and community members. Simon Busse, who conducted these special sessions inside the bus and is an educator at the Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center (FSWC), says their mission is to educate and spread awareness.

“We've seen an increase in hate in Canada, especially among 12- to 17-year-olds. That's why we're trying to educate students about hateful racist language and how to work together to stand up against it,” Busse said.

After an east coast tour in 2023, A tour for humanity now this year is bringing their western Canadian leg to schools in Manitoba, Saskatchewan and, for the first time, Alberta and British Columbia.