Jan Timmers

I worship coffee; I bow to the percolator at 5 a.m. (...he told twitter as nobody listened). I don't really worship coffee that much anymore, but that's what an addict would say, wouldn't he? So for now, I've made the colour scheme of this site a coffee colour (or about as close to it as the editing tools allow me).

As it turns out, and more important than anything I've ever written, Orange was chosen as a result of the experiences of residential school survivor, Phyllis Webstad. Phyllis was only 6 years old when she was sent to St Joseph’s Mission residential school in British Columbia from 1973-1974. Her grandmother had taken her to the store and bought her a brand new shiny orange shirt to wear to school. Phyllis was so excited to wear it to school. However, when Phyllis arrived, she was stripped of her clothing and never saw her orange shirt again. She was neglected, abused, and made to feel like she didn’t matter. She wasn’t allowed to go home for 300 sleeps. She recalls that every child there was crying to go home, but nobody at the school truly cared for them. They were made to feel alone, worthless, and like nobody would save them. Phyllis says that the colour Orange now reminds her of that time in her life where her feelings didn’t matter. Phyllis’ story is a difficult one to hear, and unfortunately it is like many others that attended residential schools.

Fortunately, Phyllis was able to return home to her grandmother after that year. As the Executive Director of the Orange Shirt Society, she now uses her story and platform to raise awareness about Orange Shirt Day, and turn the feeling of no one cares into healing and remembrance that every child matters.