Wilderness
a positive force
for social change
T
by Yee-Liu Williams
he Wilderness Foundation, partner of the Beyond
Forgiving initiative, hosted the South African
protagonists, Ginn Fourie and Letlapa Mphahlele,
in Northern Ireland on the Beyond Forgiving UK
Tour.
The Belfast visit was facilitated through Irish and
English partnering organisations: The Wilderness
Foundation, Hazelwood Integrated College (HIC), Start360
and INCORE (International Conflict Research Institute). All
partners recognise the role that wilderness can play as
a medium for effective change in conflict resolution and
leadership development and how models for this can be
shared across the world.
The Wilderness Foundation is a socio-environmental
charity who use the power of nature to educate, address
social issues, and measure the benefits of nature to
society and individuals. Major projects include supporting
young people ‘at risk’ to change the destructive course
of their lives to become valued contributors in society;
cultivate a network of young leaders to lead their
communities to a better future; evaluate the impact of
wilderness on the reconciliation process between former
political adversaries and ex-combatants in Northern
Ireland and South Africa.
Jo Roberts, CEO of the Wilderness
Foundation, believes the role of the
wild is vital in ‘retaining our sense of
humanity’ given the frenetic nature
of today’s society. She comments:
‘The Wilderness Foundation has been
a pioneer in using wilderness as a
positive force for social change. This
has been achieved by taking political,
business and community leaders,
as well as historically disadvantaged
youth, through our programmes
which allow them to experience wild
nature – often for the first time. The
basic belief is that wilderness is the
foundation stone upon which society
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has existed from since time began – it
is a blueprint for life. This sense is
often lost when people become highly
urbanised and do not have access
to nature or wild areas in which they
can escape the pressures, noise and
activity of our cities.’
Youth at Risk
Young people from Hazelwood
Integrated College, one of the first
interfaith schools located in the
middle of Belfast’s peace line, and
Start360 (formerly Opportunity
Youth), met with Ginn and Letlapa on
the tour. Kathleen Gormley, Principal
of Hazelwood College, commenting
on the pressures and need for strong
leadership in Northern Ireland says,
’the visible sign of reconciliation is
in our school crest and the journey
which has been made by Hazelwood
is a lesson to anyone in leadership
to have the vision and stick to it
and not bow down under a weight
of negativity.’ To hear the Beyond
Forgiving story was a chance for the
young people to voice their opinion
around healing and forgiveness.
Speaking at the event, Roberts
highlighted how adolescents can