On Thursday, the fourth day of our ALSO experience in Calgary, everyone began the day serving at The Salvation Army. Some of us worked with food prep (cutting up onions and bagging bread), others helped with various cleaning jobs and the rest helped with serving food. All of the people who came to eat at The Salvation Army were men, and we had a discussion about why there are more shelters and drop-in centres available for men. We realized that it is because women usually have more connections and supports (during times of need) than men do. Especially since many women have children with them, shelters are a very last resort. We ate lunch at The Salvation Army and then headed to the MCC offices where we had our final debrief with Megan Enns the CASA program coordinator. We discussed what we had seen and learned during the week and which of our perceptions about poverty and homelessness had changed. We had the evening free, so we went out for Vietnamese food and to the Chinook Shopping Centre. This gave us a glimpse of the stark contrasts between those who have very little and those who maybe have too much. On Friday morning we started the long drive back to Rosthern. Everyone was exhausted from a very intense week, and slept most of the way home. It is safe to say that our experience in Calgary was a very positive one; lots of learning experiences and fun spending time with our RJC peers.
