Oscar Suárez is the International Seek Program Facilitator for Mennonite Central Committee. Seek is a 6-month cohort program that brings recent High School graduates from around the world to Cambodia to engage in cultural immersion, volunteering, and personal development. Oscar is also an alumni of MCC’s 11 month International Volunteer Exchange Program (IVEP) during which he volunteered in another country as a Teacher while living with a local host family. Oscar has been a global youth leader in the Anabaptist church for several years. This has included facilitating youth groups inside Colombia, organizing youth engagement programs in vulnerable communities, and serving as the National Youth Network Coordinator for Iglesia Menonita de Colombia (Mennonite Church Colombia). In this role Oscar has facilitated National and Regional (Latin America) Youth Gatherings. Oscar also coordinated the Global Youth Summit for Mennonite World Conference Assembly 2022 in Indonesia. Oscar was a Conscientious Objector to Military Service in Colombia – a country that did not recognize that right at the time – and as a volunteer organized peace workshops for young adults with the local NGO Justapaz. Oscar has had a broad range of multicultural experience and engagement with young adults from many different contexts. Oscar will be speaking on Day 1, in the breakout session on “International exchange of volunteers between civil society organisations”
