Experience just a taste of what millions of refugees around the world have gone through during a forced migration simulation in Gretna.

After the news that Gretna would host a reception centre for asylum claimants, Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) Manitoba decided to bring their forced migration simulation to the community.

"It's a simulation that is designed to place participants in the position of making difficult decisions to allow their family to travel from a place of violent conflict to a place of safety," said Darryl Loewen, the Executive Director for MCC Manitoba.

The simulation exists on the Canadian Foodgrains Bank website and has been used by MCC Manitoba across southwestern Manitoba and Winnipeg. The response, Loewen said, has been great.

"The choices that are offered to participants . . . have been really engaging," Loewen said. "In vetting the situations with folks who have experienced it firsthand, we have a high level of affirmation."

Participants get split into teams, or 'families'. They will be given a situation and then a choice. Their choices will affect what happens next during the simulation, and whether your family is able to get to safety.

Loewen said the exercise isn't specifically about the people crossing the border in Canada seeking asylum, but more about the many families who have been displaced from their homes in places around the world.

The event will take place at the Gretna Prairie Centre on Tuesday, May 30 starting at 7:00 p.m. Residents from the Altona/Gretna area are invited and there is no registration required.