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Program teaches Canadian students how to be international aid workers

Government funding to Canadian aid groups may have taken a hit this past year, but a new program that will train international aid workers is getting ready to open its doors to students in September.

Government funding to Canadian aid groups may have taken a hit this past year, but a new program that will train international aid workers is getting ready to open its doors to students in September.

The International Support Worker program will begin its inaugural year in the fall at Loyalist College in Belleville, Ont.

The year-long post-graduate program features two months of hands-on experience overseas, first in southern Mexico, then in a developing country of the student’s choice.

“It’s a critical examination of international development,” co-ordinator Garry Warren said of the curriculum, which focuses on building capacity in others rather than filling positions overseas with Canadians.

The well-travelled college teacher has been involved in international development for years, taking more than 800 people to Mexico over the past 15 years to expose them to people living in urban and rural poverty.

When keen students began lining up their own development jobs after their time in Mexico, Warren began to consider a specific program geared toward international development.

He said there is one other school in Ontario that offers a program geared to practical development work, but Loyalist offers more hands-on experience.

“I think there’s a real need for it,” Warren said.

“The plan is that these folks will be really useful for other organizations.”

Themes like poverty reduction, public health, conflict resolution and the creation of jobs will be explored with students in the first semester through presentations, seminars and problem solving simulations.

Students will also learn Spanish, a skill that will be put to use during a month-long trip to Chiapas, Mexico during the second semester.

Warren said it has taken him years to develop trusting relationships with his contacts in Mexico. Part of his teaching will focus on making students aware of their own positions of privilege and power and creating meaningful dialogue with the people they encounter. “You don’t just show up and then fly back home,” he said.

Aside from preparing students for a career with Canadian and international development organizations, students will also be well trained for work in the areas of health promotion, refugee support, disaster relief, education and literacy, among others.

The new program comes in the wake of Conservative government cuts to funding to some Canadian international development groups. But Ian Smillie, author and aid critic, said that won’t necessarily mean less opportunity for graduates.

Canada’s foreign aid is well-below the target of 0.7 per cent of gross national product set by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, but “there’s still going to be lots of money for foreign aid,” Smillie said.

“This government as well as other previous governments has been very supportive in getting young people overseas.”

A future student of the program is anticipating finding a job may be a challenge as organizations compete for funding.

Michelle Newlands wants to use her background in print journalism to help tell stories from the developing world.

“I want to be able to use media to help strengthen the voice of people living in poverty struggling in their day-to-day lives,” the 22-year-old Cobourg, Ont., resident said.

“Learning about how they live and why they do the things they do, and their entire identity, helps me become a better person and it helps me become a better professional.”

Making better Canadians is a sentiment echoed by Warren who told stories of his local community’s initiative to sponsor a family from Colombia seeking refugee status.

He said the local community is coming together to welcome the family and help with their integration, and learning about a new culture at the same time.

“Sometimes doing international development makes for a better Canada,” he said.