TFS - Canada's International School

MAKING SUSTAINABLE CHANGE "An armed group member, if he ever takes up weapons again, will never forget about the time that you came to visit him," she says, describing one of the most meaningful aspects of her job. "They often say, 'Yes, you bring water and soap, but what we are most grateful for is your presence, because if you were not here we would be prone to more violence.'" According to Ms. Bouffet, building this type of goodwill not only helps the ICRC during future missions, when former detainees may be in positions of authority, but also assists groups in conflict when they begin working through reconciliation after the ICRC has left. "This is the only place I really feel comfortable working because it has that dialogue aspect," says Ms. Bouffet of her work with the ICRC, which has also taken her to Ethiopia. "I am constantly in talks with armed groups and others and trying to push them to do better, which is the most frustrating part, but the part I most appreciate because I find it sustainable," she explains. Ms. Bouffet's previous professional experience also includes being a caseworker for former Trinity–-Spadina MP Olivia Chow, a Program Editor for the NATO Council of Canada, and an intern helping refugees in Israel with Amnesty International. Helping Protect the World's Most Vulnerable When Tina Bouffet was still a child, she already knew she wanted to dedicate her career to helping people in conflict zones. "I remember telling my parents that I wanted to be someone like a lawyer, but for civilians during conflict," she reminisces. Today, Ms. Bouffet is a Detention Delegate with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), currently posted in Bangui, the capital of the Central African Republic, with a mandate to prevent ill-treatment of security detainees (people arrested in relation to the ongoing conflict in the region). Her job consists of visiting prisons and temporary places of detention, such as police stations and informal interrogation facilities, to check on the well-being of at-risk individuals and to provide prisons with recommendations on nutrition, sanitation and other essential aspects of operations. A key element is maintaining political neutrality, so her missions are limited to one-year postings. GETTING THE SUPPORT TO FOLLOW HER PASSIONS It was the supportive teachers and guidance counsellors she encountered at TFS who helped Ms. Bouffet find her way. "We were really encouraged to follow our interests," she recalls. "I remember one Thursday, in Level III, I stormed into my guidance counsellor's office and asked to change my course selection because I had realized I didn't want to be a doctor. She had actually not submitted the form on purpose, because she had been waiting for me to come back." Ms. Bouffet says it was the smaller class sizes and dedicated teachers who went above and beyond that made her time at TFS meaningful and productive. "We had teachers who paid attention to who we were, not just the skills we had, so, for example, if we were really curious, they would nourish that, even if it meant talking to us about something that did not necessarily fall within the purview of the classroom," she explains. For Ms. Bouffet, who holds a bachelor's degree in International Relations and Human Rights from University College London and a master's degree in Peace Studies and Conflict Resolution from Sciences Po, her learning experiences at TFS remain among the most influential. TFS 53 I still keep in contact with a number of TFS staff because they were people who were not only invested in my learning but in my self-questioning and my development as a person, and finding support like that is quite rare."

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