After a successful humanitarian trip earlier this year, College Boreal is getting ready to send an even bigger group in 2019.
For the trip, the school is teaming up once again with the not-for-profit The God’s Child Project, a non-denominational organization.
The initiative will see 18 students from the Timmins, Kapuskasing and Sudbury campuses heading to Guatemala in the spring.
In a small village near Antigua in the Panchoy Valley, the participants will help build three concrete block homes.
College Boreal manager of post-secondary programs Melanie Dufresne is one of the co-organizers and took part in the first trip, which she said was unbelievable.
“In terms of seeing the group from day one to the changes you see at the end of it is a complete transformation,” she said.
The goal is to have people be more aware of how one person can make a difference in people’s lives.
“When you do the international component and you come back, I think you have a new appreciation for some of the things we take for granted here in Canada and our communities and realize that volunteerism and helping others is really an important component of life,” she said.
In Guatemala, the participants stayed with host families, which will happen again next year.
“That was a wonderful component because you really are immersed in a new language, a new culture, new foods and you get to really know hands on what the culture is about and the organization we worked with has incredible staff that has this dedication towards helping the people of Guatemala to rise. It was a really wonderful experience,” she said.
There are two parts to the initiative. And it starts at home.
The participants need to complete 400 volunteer hours in their home communities before heading abroad.
For team members in Timmins and Kapuskasing, they are organizing a holiday supper for the less fortunate in partnership with the Yo! Mobile. The Sudbury team is helping out with the Bundle Up in Red Campaign during HIV Awareness Week.
At the Yo! Mobile, president Mario Dussault has been spreading the word to his clients about the supper coming up Dec. 7.
This year, there has been an increase in the number of people using the bus that sets up Friday and Saturday nights in the parking lot at city hall.
Last Saturday, he said 210 people stopped by.
“Last year, I might have had 120 as the big number. This year it’s 170, 180 every night,” he said.
While participants on the Boreal trip pay for a portion of the costs of the trip, they are also fundraising.
For Giving Tuesday, Dufresne said the Boreal foundation is supporting the humanitarian project.
To donate, you can visit givingtuesday.ca and select College Boreal.
