creating a better learning environment

Women of Courage
Healing Through Wilderness Adventure

A woman can develop the courage to take risks and the confidence to try again.

Women of Courage is a wilderness course for women who are survivors of chronic and acute abuse. Since 1988, about 400 women have participated in this specialized Outward Bound program. While building on the philosophy of all Outward Bound programs, it differs from them in that the main theme is "challenge by choice." Participants define the limits of their own challenges.

Outward Bound and various agencies in southern Ontario choose women who are beyond the crisis stage of recovery but are active in a group or individual counselling program with a recognized social service agency. A number of agencies in southern Ontario refer women to the program, and in 1994, the Body Shop sponsored courses for women from other parts of Canada. Major funding comes from the Trillium Foundation, which allows full scholarships for all participants, including transportation, child care, food, and equipment and clothing for the course.

A Woman of Courage course centres around an expedition that includes canoeing, camping and 24 hours of reflection time, alone or with another. Through these activities, participants engage in a series of increasingly difficult challenges. The progression of these challenges is geared to the social and emotional resources of the individual and the group. Stress is kept to a reasonable level and challenges are met with success rather than frustration of failure. This is the meaning behind "challenge by choice," each woman determines the level of risk she will take to meet each challenge.