Intercordia Canada gives young people the opportunity to see and know the world in a different way....through the eyes of your heart. We become peacemakers when we choose to meet people in their country, in their home and hear their story. In our fast, efficient societies we have so much to learn from those who live radically different lives than our own....we just need to be humble enough to listen.
Intercordia is a unique program that enables students to ground their commitment to social change in relationships not just ideals. This grounding makes it possible for students to hold together the beauty experienced in the people and places they encounter on their placements with the pain of social inequity they witness directly. Students discover that it is possible, in the midst of suffering, for something redemptive to surface while at the same time discover that it is crucial not to romanticize the ugliness of poverty and injustice. It’s been a privilege to witness students working through feelings of paralysis and becoming agents of change in their personal lives and the wider community because of the groundedness given by their experience with Intercordia.
Intercordia focuses on the power of being rooted in relationships with “the other” and in the rhythm of everyday life, with all its struggles and gifts. Meeting Intercordia students and hearing their stories brings me so much life and energy; I am filled with hope for the future of our community and of our world as I learn about their desire for relationships and experiences with people and a world radically different from what they have known. Being a part of Intercordia inspires me as I live my own life and strive to be a peacemaker.
Intercordia is founded on simple gestures of meeting people where they are. The students who come to the program possess a dynamic combination of eager desire and openness. They want to make a difference in our hurting world and they are willing to be challenged in their thinking and perspectives. It is my privilege to walk this journey with them, and to have my life informed and inspired on the way. I am awed over and over again by the student’s stories of personal transformation, of their discoveries of dignity in often surprising places, of their growing sense of a deeper meaning to their lives.
Intercordia is a wonderful opportunity for students to enter into the life of a community of people who we so frequently label as the “other” or the “less fortunate,” without necessarily considering the potential gifts such individuals have to offer. By the mere fact that students enter these communities with an open mind and an open heart, they are able to build relationships across difference, realizing that in all our strengths and weaknesses we are, after all, a part of a common humanity.
