Winnipeg Students Take 'Refugee' Class
WINNIPEG - A Winnipeg high school is trying a new kind of camp that lets students feel what it's like to live the difficult life of a refugee.
Although the experience only lasts a day, the students say it is one they will never forget.
The Vincent Massey curriculum calls for the Grade 11 students to take on the role of refugee for 24 hours, in the safety of a Manitoba park. The campers pretend to flee a neighbouring country. To make the experience seem more real, adults acting as members of a "rebel militia" threaten and humiliate them every step of the way.
They storm the gymnasium, yelling at the students to board buses. At one point, they're forced to kneel while the "rebels" point guns at their heads and steal their belongings.
"Well, they're learning compassion, and they're learning empathy,"said teacher Ken Corley, adding it's expected that some would finding the experience upsetting.
A real refugee was invited to meet the students. Winston Harmon came to Canada from Liberia six years ago. He said the exercise is fairly accurate, but without the real violence he witnessed.
"The worst I have seen was the time my parents were murdered, my father and mother, in front of my eyes," he said. "That was the worst I saw."
By the next day, the students were ready to go home; it had dropped below zero overnight. "It got to the point where I was shaking so violently for like half an hour," said 16-year-old Elisha Pederck.
Another Grade 11 student, Kathleen Cross, said the experience gave her a chance to see "a little of what it's like to fight for everything you have."