International experience inspires local action
Alumna Christie McLeod (MSC '14, IDS 4–year) can pinpoint the exact time in her life when she knew she wanted to study and work in the fields of international development and human rights.
It was when she spent six months as a volunteer teacher in a preschool in Capricorn, a South African township, teaching colours, numbers, and shapes, among other topics.
“The experience blew my mind in the most incredible way—to experience the culture, the people, and the beauty of the country—I fell in love,” she says.
McLeod graduated in 2014 with a 4-year International Development Studies (IDS) degree from Menno Simons College (MSC) and a 3-year degree in Human Rights from the University of Winnipeg Global College.
As part of a Global College field course, McLeod journeyed back to South Africa to learn about life in the country post-1994, the year apartheid ended. This was another foundational experience for McLeod.
“The people are incredible—they’ve gone through so much, the country has gone through so much,” she says. “It’s a 20 year old democracy and there’s a lot of struggles. There’s a lot of violence, a lot of crime, a lot of political issues. But despite the hardships, the country is beautiful. It hits you hard.”
Through the field course, McLeod says the value of being passionate about a specific area of the world was affirmed, but that she also reflected on the importance of becoming involved in her home community.
“It’s important for wherever you are at the time to make sure you’re doing what you can to make a difference or help influence positive change,” she says.
Her desire to help reduce poverty locally led her to undertake her MSC practicum with the Immigrant and Refugee Community Organization of Manitoba. By working with refugees, McLeod was able to bring her international studies and focus to a local setting.
Since graduation, McLeod has found many opportunities to connect her international development and human rights interests to her daily life. She is the Executive Assistant for Mondetta Charity Foundation (MCF) an organization that seeks to ease some of the suffering in the East African region, and presently supports a primary school in Uganda and an orphanage in Kenya.
McLeod is currently the editor-in-chief of The Undercurrent, which is Canada’s nationally indexed journal for undergraduate international development studies. Additionally, she is developing a blog, seekingsocialjustice.com, that features upcoming social justice events in Winnipeg and reports of events that she attends, which she hopes will “further the impact and expand the reach of the message of the event.”
She also volunteers with the Provincial Council of Women in Manitoba and attended the UN Women Beijing +20 event as a delegate in March 2015.
For those considering studying international development or human rights, McLeod says the interdisciplinary nature of both degrees—which study economics, business, geography, and other fields—culminates in a valuable worldview.
“Whether you plan on working for the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade, and Development, or strictly the development sector, or something completely different, the knowledge and perspective that these degrees give you is really, really valuable,” she says.
Ellen Paulley is the Writer & Social Media Coordinator at Menno Simons College
Faculty: In Their Own Words
Karen Ridd, Teaching Associate Professor, Conflict Resolution Studies
Dr. Jonathan Sears, Associate Professor of International Development Studies
Dr. Jodi Dueck-Read, Assistant Professor of Conflict Resolution Studies
Dr. Jerry Buckland, Professor of International Development Studies
