Solidarity Trips

Cambodia Solidarity Trip 2008

Young members of Development and Peace have the opportunity to participate in a solidarity trip to the Global South!

Generally between 2 and 3 weeks long, a Youth Solidarity Trip take place each year and allows active young leaders to learn about the work of Development and Peace’s Partners on the ground as well as issues specific to the country and region.

Participants have great experiences in group-building  and rewarding inter-cultural exchanges. This is an opportunity to build relationships with people of the South and enhance your knowledge and interest in international solidarity.

Read the blog posts about the 2010 Youth Solidarity Trips to the Philippines!

The next Youth Solidarity Trip will be to Lebanon in June 2011!

New for this year, we will be experiementing with a joint Francophone-Anglophone trip, for a total of 10 participants: 5 French and 5 English young adults. This is an excellent opportunity to share with young members from across Canada who are interested in social justice and our Catholic faith. 

The trip is in part funded by Development and Peace, so participants need to be connected to us, and make a commitment to continue to volunteer and make presentations for a year after the trip.

The purpose of the trip is to create solidarity with others, particularly our partner organizations in the Lebanon. Unlike many mission trips, for example, the delegation will not be volunteering, or at least not in the sense that we are used to hearing about.

In keeping in line with Development and Peace’s partnership model, the main goals of the trip will be for the Canadians to learn 1) about the conditions of life in the Lebanon 2) the root causes of poverty and conflict 3) what the people of Lebanon themselves are doing to reduce poverty and injustice, and build peace.

In the end, the participants will learn that people in the Global South are working hard on a national & international level to undo the chains of injustice. The Canadians will also discover that we have a role in supporting them in this process.

It is important that we learn more about issues faced by people who are impoverished from the very people who are impoverished. We then have a responsibility to act here in Canada: to tell their stories, both to our own communities and to our government.

The trip will involve many meetings with various groups. The group will likely travel to various parts of the country and meet different communities. The participants should be prepared to listen and to ask many questions.

Our purpose on the trip is not to act as if we were the experts but rather as members of the media who want to hear stories that we could then report back to our communities.  Each time we meet D&P partners we are humbled at how much we can learn from them!

Find out more about the trip here…

Applications here…

Applications are due JANUARY 15, 2011. For more information, send an email to Genevieve Gallant ggallant@devp.org or call 1-800-494-1401 ext 230.