International Service Learning

Helping Others while Learning About another Culture

What is service-learning?

Service-learning is a teaching and learning strategy that integrates meaningful community service with instruction and reflection to enrich the learning experience, teach civic responsibility, and strengthen communities.
(Service Learning Committee, Valencia 2007)

Faculty-Led Service Learning at Valencia

SERVICE LEARNING in the DOMINICAN REPUBLIC - August 8-16, 2009
Program Cost: $442
Program cost includes round-trip air & ground transportation, housing, meals, & travel insurance

Do you have a desire to help others?  Are you interested in photography, graphic design, descriptive writing, interviewing people, assessing community needs, and/or developing business plans?   Then you may want to accompany Valencia students and faculty on this amazing service trip to the village of La Cucarita.  You will survey the conditions and interact with residents of this tiny, remote mountain community; then work collaboratively with them and your fellow group members to propose ways and means for the community to improve its standard of living and to write/design a book about the people in the villages.   
Open to Valencia students only. APPLICATION

Click on DR flyer for additional details.

For more information, contact Thera Woodard, studyabroad@valenciacc.edu.

Service Learning Through Other Organizations

The International Partnership for Service-Learning and Leadership
Discover the power of service-learning as a method for education and a means through which we can cultivate global citizens who are culturally literate, civically engaged, and responsive to the needs of others.
http://www.ipsl.org/

Mission Office
Diocese of Orlando
The Diocese of Orlando began a journey in 1983 when it agreed to enter a sister relationship with the Diocese of San Juan de la Maguana in the Dominican Republic. Since that time hundreds of lives have been affected by this journey both in the United States and in the Dominican Republic.
http://www.missiondr.org/

National Service-Learning Clearinghouse
The Learn and Serve America National Service-Learning Clearinghouse (NSLC) supports the service-learning community in higher education, kindergarten through grade twelve, community-based initiatives and tribal programs, as well as all others interested in strengthening schools and communities using service-learning techniques and methodologies. http://www.servicelearning.org/resources/hot_topics/international/index.php

United Planet (UP), "the world's largest cultural exchange", is a leading international, educational, humanitarian, and peace-building, non-profit organization with members and volunteers in over 150 countries devoted to fostering cross-cultural understanding and friendship, supporting communities in need, and promoting social & economic prosperity among cultures in order to unite the world in a community beyond borders.
http://www.unitedplanet.org/

Volunteer in Africa
Participating in these overseas volunteer programs in Ghana will offer you the opportunity to help others and make the world a better place to live. It will also make your resume shine as well as offer you the opportunity to acquire a valuable work experience and put into use your creative skills. You will also have a cultural exchange, cross-cultural exposure, cultural immersion, make new friends, learn the local language, cook the local food, learn about the rich Ghanaian culture and experience her unique hospitality.
http://www.volunteeringinafrica.org/ghana.htm