Trying out beaver and moose meat, snow shoeing in -45C weather, and listening to the First Nations’ Elders speak of their culture, are a just a few things ten students and one leader from Canadore College participated in on a service trip to Moose Factory, Ontario. Beginning in September, Jessica Charbonneau, Residence Life Coordinator at Canadore College decided to take her passion for service learning to a new level by creating a unique opportunity service learning experience for Canadore College Residence students. The experience began as early as the fall, when students would get together to discuss topics such as global citizenship, service learning, and leadership.
The journey to Moose Factory began with an early morning bus ride to Cochrane, and then a train ride on the Polar Express to Moose Factory. Throughout the week the students spent time planning discussions and workshops with local students about bullying, suicide, peer pressure, drugs/alcohol, and the role social media has on all these topics. The team traveled to several schools where they played different games with the kids and spoke to them about these issues.
Understanding and learning about the Cree culture (and the culture within Canada’s First Nations people) was also very prominent throughout the trip. The students had several opportunities to speak to Elders, and engage in community activities including beading, preparing moose, dumplings, and bannock. The trip was an excellent opportunity for students to immerse themselves in the community of Moose Factory and learn more about the local culture.
The Moose Factory Service Trip is one of four trips coordinated by Campus Living Centres in partnership with our post-secondary institutional partners. Other service learning destinations will include trips to the Dominican Republic and Costa Rica.
For more pictures and info about the Moose Factory trip check out: http://canadorerezblog.weebly.com/moose-factory-blog.html
For the official Canadore College official press release, please go to: Moose Factory Service Learning Trip February 2014