Winnipeg woman killed in air crash a human rights champion

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 10/03/2019 (2020 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A Winnipeg woman killed in Sunday’s Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 plane crash was pursuing her passion in environmental issues and said in her final Facebook post that she was "beyond privileged" to be doing so.

Danielle Moore, 24, was a devoted environmental and human-rights activist who had been living in Winnipeg for more than a year and working as an educator for Canada Learning Code’s mobile program.

Moore, originally from Scarborough, Ont., was travelling on the plane to Nairobi, Kenya, to participate in the United Nations Environment Assembly, a prestigious environmental conference.

She posted on Facebook that she had been selected to attend through her involvement with United Nations Association Canada.

Moore was one of 18 Canadians and 157 people on the flight. The cause of the crash, which happened shortly after takeoff, is still being investigated. Ethiopian Airlines said through media reports Monday that the flight data recorder and the cockpit voice recorder have both been recovered.

"Over the next week I’ll have the opportunity to discuss global environmental issues, share stories, and connect with other youth and leaders from all over the world," Moore’s post on Facebook read. "I feel beyond privileged to be receiving this opportunity, and want to share as much with folks back home."

The Free Press reached out to several people close to Moore, including family and friends, but interviews were declined or messages not returned.

Canada Learning Code CEO Melissa Sariffodeen issued a statement Monday about Moore and said the organization would "continue to plant the seeds of positive change that you so beautifully dedicated your life to doing."

"Danielle was a smart, passionate, and a friendly woman who dedicated her life to helping others. So much so that she would often take her vacation days to volunteer for the causes that were dear to her heart," Sariffodeen stated.

“Danielle was a smart, passionate, and a friendly woman who dedicated her life to helping others. So much so that she would often take her vacation days to volunteer for the causes that were dear to her heart.”–Canada Learning Code CEO Melissa Sariffodeen

"Danielle had been a member of Canada Learning Code’s Code Mobile team in Winnipeg for almost a year, helping youths throughout Manitoba, northwestern Ontario, and Nunavut dream of what is possible and empower them with the skills and confidence to change the world through technology, while bringing Canadians from diverse backgrounds together."

In an Instagram tribute, Jodie Layne, Moore’s co-worker from Canada Learning Code, described Moore as "one of the most optimistic, bright, lively, curious, inquisitive, kind, generous, optimistic, effervescent and determined people I have ever known." Her tribute said Moore "sparkled" and that Moore had recently been accepted into a program to become a teacher.

"She was committed to justice and the environment and the people she loved," the post read.

 

 

 

 

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This is my coworker/most constant companion/dear friend, Danielle. This morning, en route to the UN environment assembly, her plane crashed and she was killed. It’s hard to imagine Danielle as anything but fully alive. Danielle was one of the most optimistic, bright, lively, curious, inquisitive, kind, generous, optimistic, effervescent, and determined people I have ever known. Danielle sparkled. After being in the classroom every day this past year, Dani had just been accepted into Teacher’s College and was going to make an incredible teacher. She was committed to justice and the environment and the people she loved. Dani and I stopped counting the time we had spent together after 500 hours in the car. We spent countless hundreds more teaching, talking, ‘recording’ our fake celebrity astrology podcast, eating microwave popcorn and watching Gilmore Girls on the couch at whatever cabin or rental apartment we were staying at, drinking chamomile tea in The Pas McDonalds for the free wifi, waiting in airports, and traversing gravel roads singing Robyn and Kacey Musgraves. I spent more time with her than I did with anyone else, we knew what the other was going to say before we said it, our fingerprints were saved in each other’s phones, we joked about our separation anxiety(texting each other the second we had to go to our separate homes or hotel rooms), and we had each other’s back, always. I haven’t even begun to comprehend this loss and I miss her so much already. Dani would want you to sing along real loud to your favourite song, have a video chat with your best friends, get an impulsive tattoo, overcommit yourself to things that excite you, learn a new skill, show up for causes you care about, and make yourself something really nice to eat.

A post shared by Jodie Layne ������✨ (@jodielayne) on Mar 10, 2019 at 8:39pm PDT

Moore’s Facebook page, which had been turned into a memorial page by Monday afternoon and her profile for Canadian Geographic said she had earned a bachelor of science degree in marine biology and oceanography at Dalhousie University and had spent time in 2015 at the Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences.

She studied whale feeding habitats and vocalizations and "explored the ocean across the globe from Costa Rica to Bermuda to Israel."

She travelled in the spring of 2018 on a 10-day expedition in Haida Gwaii, an archipelago off British Columbia’s west coast also known as the Queen Charlotte Islands, through Ocean Wise’s Ocean Bridge program to learn about global waste and participate in ocean health service projects in the community.

In her Ocean Bridge Diaries for Canadian Geographic, she wrote about how impactful her experience was and the importance of respecting the land.

"For thousands of years, the Indigenous peoples of Turtle Island (now known as North America) have understood the reciprocal relationship between earth and humankind," she wrote. "How can we live in harmony with nature? Our group was given some advice from Haida Elder Barbara Wilson one night: slow down, listen to the earth — always with intention."

In a blog she called Life as a Learning Lab, she wrote about her concerns with the environment, climate change and her plans to survive the "climate apocalypse" by learning new skills such as repairing small appliances and items, preserving food and using medicinal plants, among others. She said it was a way to "embrace a changing world" and "take action within my own life" and "start a conversation with those around me."

In the midst of changing times, in the midst of a looming future, we can also revel in the idea that such a change/collapse can bring upon a new way of life. So I choose hope, and that’s what I hope to share with you.”–Danielle Moore, in a blog post

Moore’s Jan. 23 blog post was about learning to process raw wool fleece at Long Way Homestead, a family-run fibre farm and wool mill near Richer.

"In the midst of changing times, in the midst of a looming future, we can also revel in the idea that such a change/collapse can bring upon a new way of life. So I choose hope, and that’s what I hope to share with you…" Moore wrote.

ashley.prest@freepress.mb.ca