A Weyburn student, Mitchell McIvor, a 2006 graduate of the Weyburn Comprehensive School and current first-year sociology student at the University of Saskatchewan, is gearing up for a three-month trip to the war-torn region of Bosnia, as a part of a sociology course he is taking.

Mitchell, the son of Kim and Corrilynn McIvor of Weyburn, was at home during "reading week" to try and get support from local individuals and businesses to help pay for his trip.

The program is organized by Intercordia Canada, which is an experiential learning program partnered with five universities and a number of international organizations that helps students develop cultural sensitivity, and discover a more compassionate world view.

Currently Mitchell is in an academic course entitled Social Change and Global Solidarity, in which they explore issues of global inequity and the potential for social change.

In May, right after university finals are done, he will board a plane for Bosnia, where he will stay with a host family and volunteer in a local community-based organization, a Christian and Muslim Youth Center, until the end of July.

Mitchell is the only first-year student of the nine U of S students chosen to take part in the Intercordia program, and said he is looking forward to the experience, acknowledging there will be difficulties such as language and culture to overcome. One challenge he knows of is the host family won't know any English, whereas the hosts speak a combination of Bosnian, Croatian and Serbian.

"The program wants you to be out of your comfort zone. The war ended in Bosnia in 1995, so it's still fresh in everyone's mind," explained Mitchell, noting in this town, the residents there want to establish a Christian and Muslim Youth Center in order to help heal some of those wounds and bring the community back together.

There is one staff member who speaks English, and will help him communicate with the others at the center.

The other students in this program will be going to other countries, including Mexico, Ukraine, Ghana and Honduras.

"When we see the bad things on TV, we're in Canada where we're safe. We don't face the hardship these people face, so I'll be able to see what it's like for refugees, or how hard it to go through these kinds of experiences," said Mitchell, adding for his country, while the war was over a decade ago, the people are still struggling to have normal, peaceful lives.

Asked what he hopes to learn in this experience, he replied, "I'm just hoping to have a better world-view. I'm really excited to be working in a place like his and I'm hopeful I can bring that experience back here and help immigrants here in Canada."

He notes that he volunteers in Saskatoon at the Global Gathering Place, where he helps new immigrants with their questions and problems in finding a new life in Canada.

He said often Canadians just assume they're really happy to be here, and often they are, but they also would rather be in their own culture amongst people they can understand and grew up with.

"I can better help these people and what they're going through, and be more compassionate with people and give them help," added Mitchell.

For each participant, they have to put in $1,000 of their own money, fund-raise $500 from their home community and as a group they need to raise about $9,000, which the group has already been working on in Saskatoon.

A requirement for the course is also to do community service, for which he volunteers two hours a week at the AIDS Centre in Saskatoon.

If anyone is interested in helping Mitchell out, they can e-mail him at mdm342@mail.usask.ca or call his parents, Kim and Corrilynn McIvor in Weyburn.