Is Survivorman Resilient?

Friday was a beautiful day here in Sudbury, it felt like it could have been the middle of summer, and this put me in the right mood for the session I attended that morning. Stephen Ritchie, of Laurentian University, and Lawrence Enosse, of the Waasa Naabin Community Youth Services Centre, spoke about the Outdoor Adventure Leadership Experience (OALE) program they developed for the youth of the Wikwemilkong Unceded Indian Reserve. Stephen Ritchie set out with the goal of developing this program as part of his research; he wanted to see what impact the OALE would have on aboriginal youth resilience and well-being. Lawrence Enosse is a leader in the Wikwemilkong community and runs the OALE each summer.

The OALE is a ten day experience. The group begins their trek where the French River and Highway 69 meet. From here they set out on their journey home, canoeing down the French River to Georgian Bay and eventually returning to Wikwemilkong on Manitoulin Island. When the group arrives home a large number of community members, including family and friends, are waiting on the shore to welcome them back. To me, this seems like a wonderful experience for these youth, and quite possibly life changing. During the session, we watched a well crafted film about the OALE and its impact on the youth who participate. To get a better idea of what the OALE entails watch the movie.

This ten day experience was found to have an impact on the resiliency of the youth, at least in the short term. Before the experience and a few weeks afterwards pre and post tests of resiliency were administered to the youth. From these it was determined there was a statistically significant increase in the mean level of resiliency amongst the youth. Stephen Ritchie also noted that he believes the longer time frame of the experience, ten days, could make it more effective than a shorter experience would be. Many of the youth experienced a “day three phenomenon” where their attitude towards the experience suddenly changed. Although they had all voluntarily signed up for the OALE, many of the youth did not want to be there. However, after the third day, they enjoyed it much more and became excited about the experience.

The OALE helps youth learn to not only rely on others, but to also be able to rely on themselves. Both of these abilities are necessary for the development of resiliency. This was an amazing session to listen to, and I believe time will show that the OALE has a very strong impact on the youth who partake in it. For more information on Stephen Ritchie’s research visit http://www.ihrdp.ca/reports.html

And from what I’m told, Survivorman is very resilient... it appears this resilience is probably partly due to his adventures in the wild.

-Josh