Applications are accepted on an ongoing basis. Once your application is received, we will touch base with your references and review your application. Depending on the response time from references, you should hear from LiveDifferent within 2-3 weeks of applying as to whether or not you have been accepted into our upcoming session.
Once accepted to the LiveDifferent Academy program, you will need to pay your deposit and send in a signed Consent Package and signed Child Protection Policy Agreement. You will then be able to set up an online fundraising page where people can donate towards the community project costs of Academy. More details will be provided upon acceptance.
LiveDifferent will provide all Academy Students with return flights with WestJet. Certain restrictions apply, so contact us for more details.
LiveDifferent does not issue tax receipts for contributions made towards the Program Costs, as they are not directly related to the charitable component of the program. There are certain restrictions when issuing tax receipts. Full details are available upon request.
LiveDifferent is not able to provide university credits for completing our Academy program at this point. We recommend contacting your university of choice prior to starting Academy about the possibility of earning university credit. Academy staff will do what they can to assist students to earn any credits available to them.
On another note, however, the experiences that you will have and the opportunities to truly see and live with another culture while working alongside them for sustainability and improvement is something truly amazing on its own.
Yes. Going to a new country and being away from home, often for the first time, can be both exciting and challenging. We understand that you will want and need to stay in contact with friends and family.
There is Wi-Fi available at our base, though there will be times when there are lapses in service. We encourage you to find a balance between staying in touch with people back home and making the most of the opportunities surrounding you to learn a new culture and language and to develop relationships with the community and group members.
Staff on the ground always carry cell phones making them available in case contact needs to be made between a participant and a family member or vice versa. Family members will be provided with a phone number they can contact in case of an emergency.
Yes. A valid passport is mandatory to participate in the LiveDifferent Academy in Mexico. Please keep in mind that the meeting location for the Academy is San Diego, CA which means you will be traveling through the US to get to Mexico. Don’t worry if you don’t have a passport at the time of applying, you can notify us when you receive it.
If you hold a passport from a country other than Canada, it is your responsibility to ensure you have met all the requirements for entry into the country you are visiting, and for some, this may include acquiring a visitor’s visa. If you don’t currently have a passport, be sure to apply for one as soon as possible to avoid any delays.
If you hold a Canadian passport, you do not need a travel visa to participate on a LiveDifferent. Please keep in mind that the meeting location for our Mexico Builds is San Diego, CA which means you will be traveling through the US to get to Mexico. Build. If you hold a passport from a country other than Canada, it is your responsibility to ensure you have met all the requirements for entry into the country you are visiting, and for some, this may include acquiring a visitor’s visa.
Please contact your destination’s embassy or consulate in Canada or your country of residence well before your departure for accurate and up-to-date information on visa requirements.
Yes, it is mandatory for all LiveDifferent Academy participants to have Emergency Medical Travel Insurance. If you need to purchase Emergency Medical Travel Insurance, please visit www.insuremytrip.ca or speak to your travel insurance company of choice.
Have you ever heard the saying “You can’t understand someone until you’ve walked a mile in their shoes”? The ‘week in a life’ is your chance to do just that. It is a week-long experience that we have developed in an effort to simulate some of the situations and difficult life-choices that many migrant Mexican workers and families in the area must make. It will be as if you arrived from mainland Mexico searching for work. You and your ‘family’ will build a structure that you will live in (on our base) – where you will cook your meals over a fire, bathe, wash your clothes by hand and sleep. During the days you will do work that is common in the area for day labourers and receive the average income that a family your size would make in order to purchase your food and pay your bills. Most Academy alumni claim that this week was one of the most challenging and most impactful weeks of their life. Living out a bit of the reality of people you will meet during your time in Mexico will add perspective that is not possible from just talking about the issues or even seeing it. Come let our staff guide you through this experience as you walk a mile in a migrant worker’s shoes for a week.
