Torch - Fall 2016

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| FALL 2016 • TORCH 15
bonfire on the shores of Lake Malawi and helped one another
up the mountainside overlooking the lush green of Mbeya. But
they also celebrated and supported each other in more powerful
ways. Xu, together with her partner and their peers, embarked
on a journey of cross-cultural understanding. They taught each
other Swahili and English and learned about the diversity across
Canada and Tanzania. They discussed difficult ideas around
cultural appropriation and Western development practices.
They interviewed community elders and stakeholders to create
photo essays and community timelines for the Olive Branch
for Children.
COBI’s unique peer-to-peer model is what made it a great fit for
Havergal’s Forum for Change excursions. At Havergal, we believe
that the great personal growth that can come from international
experiences should not come at the expense of the dignity and
development of the communities we seek to impact. Daniela Papi-
Thornton of the University of Oxford has advocated for flipping
the traditional approach to philanthropic and volunteer travel on
its head for this reason, changing the language of service learning
to learning service. This subtle shift encourages students who travel
abroad to change the message from “Hi, I’m here to help you” to
“Hi, I’m here to learn from you how I might be able to help, now
or in the future.” In other words, we go to learn first and then
do the hard work of unpacking how we might continue to make
a difference in our own communities 365 days a year. Students
who go on The Institute excursions learn to ask the big questions
of themselves and of the issues in their local and extended
communities. In this way, our global impact can begin to be
measured in our increased humility and understanding, rather
than in the number of bricks laid. For Xu, making an impact meant
stepping out from behind the camera and bringing herself and her
world view into focus.
Xu still exchanges online messages with her friends at the Olive
Branch and hopes to visit them again this March Break, when
Havergal returns to continue building its relationship with
McCracken-Nangereke and her kids at the Zion home. Upon
returning from Tanzania last year, Xu reflected on how she could
best use her experience and skills to continue making an impact here
in Toronto and abroad. She built a website to
showcase her photography and is currently selling prints in support
of the Olive Branch for Children. Now in Grade 12, Xu is making
plans next year to study industrial design to learn how she can
design products that benefit people in developing countries.
Visit to learn more
about how The Institute at Havergal is a differentiator at
the school and in the lives of our students.
On our last day in Tanzania, we had to describe
our trip in one word. For me, that word was
unforgettable. When I left from Toronto to
Tanzania, I had no idea what to expect, which I
think was best because I came in with an open
mind, and what I actually experienced was better
than anything that I could have imagined. I would
say the most impactful things for me were the
people I met. They are now my family. I would
never have expected to form such close bonds
with everybody at the Zion home. On our first
night there, I thought to myself how crazy it was
that we had just met them a few hours ago, as it
felt like we’d known them for years.
Photo of children at the Olive Branch for Children, taken by Audrey Xu.