Field Trip to the Offices of War Child Canada

Last Thursday afternoon, Mr. Henry’s World Issues class visited the headquarters of War Child Canada. Being a small class, we were able to sit in the boardroom with the Head of Fundraising and the coordinator of the Ugandan and Afghanistan branches.

Throughout the afternoon, we learned what the core tenet of the NGO (non-governmental organization) is: to allow every child affected by war or conflict to have their basic needs met and opportunities presented. The main pillar of War Child is to one day live in a world in which no child knows war.

Rather than hire expats and foreign employees, War Child stresses the concept that local leaders are the best opportunity for growth in a community. They generally only hire trained locals to provide each community with access to War Child programs, as they are already known and trusted by the people. This is a unique approach to social justice work, and ensures proper economic re-engagement and future growth.

War Child understands that to aid a child or adolescent in a conflict zone, you cannot just throw money at them and send them on their way. By investing in the community around them - ensuring that their parents have stable jobs, their nutritional and medical needs are met, their community values education for both boys and girls and they are safe from militant groups in their community - War Child is able to provide a holistic, and effective aid program. War Child also works to support justice programs in these traumatized communities, often providing support for domestic violence and conjugal slavery victims, and helping overall in the aftermath of violence.

In learning about NGOs, we endeavoured to understand what different organizations do around the world, and how they are run. We were able to gain insight about what it is like to work at one of these organizations, and understand what paths to take to get there.