Create a Chance by Taking at a Chance at Selkirk College Fundraising Dinner
By Bob Hall
Leaping into the financial unknown at the upcoming fundraising evening for the Selkirk College Unarmed Civilian Peacekeeping Program will inject an extra dose of excitement into an event that aims to bring an international component to a highly anticipated offering.
A Mir Centre for Peace Fundraising Dinner is set for September 26 at the Brilliant Cultural Centre which will include a traditional borsch dinner and admission to the Parfaite Ntahuba lecture that follows. The unique twist to this evening comes in how much the 144 people who attend will pay. Each person will draw a number between one and 144, and that number will determine the ticket price. It could be $1, it could be $20, it could be $144 or it could be anything in-between.
“We’re having a little fun with this,” says Mir Centre for Peace Coordinator Randy Janzen. “It just adds a different element to the evening and at the end of the dinner we will have raised $10,000 for an important bursary.”
The funds raised at the dinner will go towards bringing international students to the West Kootenay to take part in the Unarmed Civilian Peacekeeping (UCP) Program which will be offered starting in January, 2016.
The only one of its kind in Canada, the program will teach the principles of nonviolence and how unarmed civilian peacekeeping can provide direct physical protection to civilians in a variety of contexts. Open to everyone in the region, the program will explore strategies including protective accompaniment, creation of safe spaces, proactive presencing, interpositioning, monitoring and reporting, and relationship building.
“This program will enable those who take it to have an opportunity to make a real difference,” says Janzen. “Even if people are not interested in directly getting involved in this type of work, the strategies that will be taught are applicable to so many situations.”
The citation program is being offered in collaboration with Nonviolent Peaceforce, a major global organization that employs UCP strategies in several locations including the Philippines, Syria, South Sudan, Myanmar and Columbia.
Part one of the course includes five online eight to ten hour modules that begin in January and end in March. The second part of the program is a two-week full-time intensive workshop that runs April 18 to 29.
The fundraising dinner goes between 4:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. In order to take part in this unique and memorable evening, you must RSVP by email to mircentre@selkirk.ca or by phone at 250.365.1288. All participants in the dinner will have a chance to win a Wave Electric Bike which will be raffled off. If you are not interested in the dinner, tickets for the Parfaite Ntahuba lecture will be available at the door for $16 (adults) and $13 (students/seniors). The lecture begins at 7 p.m.
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