Category: 2016-17 Page 6 of 9

This year’s Burkina Faso Outtatown spent a morning picking “earth peas” with a farmer and his 4-yr-old son.

When I finished high school, I had no clue what I wanted to do. I decided to take a break from school, hoping to discover what I was passionate about. I ended up on the Outtatown French Africa program.

We spent three months travelling through Francophone Canada (Winnipeg, Quebec City, and Montreal); Burkina Faso (in West Africa); and France. Over this time, we volunteered with many organizations, where we met interesting people and were pushed to look at the world in a different way.

Outtatown’s motto is, “knowing God, knowing yourself, knowing the world,” and this is the best way to summarize my experience.

Knowing God

In Outtatown, I learned that God speaks in so many ways. Through conversations with people in my group from different faith backgrounds, I began to see God beyond my own experience. I learned to worship in new ways, both in Canada and Burkina Faso. By witnessing how those around me lived their faith, I was challenged to grow in new ways and pay closer attention to God’s presence in my own life.

Knowing Yourself

I realized that I was capable of more than I gave myself credit for. Being surrounded by a loving community, I was able to do things that I never would have been able to do otherwise. I went bungee jumping, even though I am terrified of heights, and learned that I love adventuring. I also realized that I am passionate about building relationships with people who have a different story than myself, and asking what it would look like if the world was just. This love of adventure and social justice has continued in my studies and as I seek out new opportunities for adventure.

Knowing the World

I experienced a world that is broken and hurting, but filled with courageous people. Through my readings and conversations, I was struck by poverty as well as the people making a difference. Though the world can feel hopeless in the face of such issues, the people I met lived with the hope that things can change, and called me to that as well.

Every time people ask me about my experience, I answer that it was one of the best choices I ever made. It was a time when I was supported in asking questions, had a lot of fun, and learned what it meant to grow and change.

Laura

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After my year spent in the Outtatown program, I still wasn’t sure what I wanted to do. All I knew was that I loved hearing peoples’ stories and travelling, and I had a deep desire to make the world a better place.

When I started my first year, I was nervous because I wasn’t sure if I was ready to step back into the academic world or what classes I was going to take. So I decided to take a little bit of everything: international development, science, theology, and peace and conflict studies.

I’ll never forget my first Peace and Conflict Transformation Studies (PACTS) class. I felt as though this program was designed especially for me. It had everything I cared so deeply about: learning how to deal with conflict on a personal and global scale and how to develop healthy relationships and prevent violence.

I’ve never truly enjoyed school; I’ve always struggled with taking notes, memorizing, and writing tests. But I was blown away by the practical and experiential way that PCTS material was taught. Personal stories were shared, group insight and discussions were encouraged, international and local peacebuilders came to speak to us, and there were field trips to hold my attention. I remember more then once we would leave the classroom to do some type of activity, whether that be sitting in a circle to share our thoughts or doing the blanket exercise (a powerful teaching where participants take on the role of indigenous peoples). For the first time in my education, I felt as though I was learning something that I genuinely cared about and I wanted to learn more.

Since then, I have taken many PCTS courses, such as Restorative Justice, Youth Voices and Peace Activism, Peace Psychology, Coaching and Mediation, Art of Peacebuilding and Culture of Violence, and Cultures of Peace.

I have also found it helpful to take a variety of courses as part of my PCTS degree. These have helped to diversify my perspective of peace and justice. Theology courses have encouraged me to look at peace and conflict with a biblical lens, philosophy has challenged me to ask hard questions and seek different angles, and psychology has taught me to consider many different view points when seeking peace.

I’m hoping to do some volunteering and travel this summer, when I can learn how others see peacebuilding in their communities. Next fall, I’ll begin my practicum. I’m considering mediation services or the Stoney Mountain penitentiary, but the options are limitless and I am so excited to see what God has in store.

Emilie