Story by Jaclyn Morris
Photos by Jill Sockolov
This December a small group of fifteen to twenty students will travel to Pondicherry, India, as part of the first international Alternative Break offered during winter vacation. Leaving at the end of Dead Week and returning on December 23, participating students will dive into India’s diverse culture as they work with community members. Although the program’s application deadline has already passed, interested students are encouraged to take the two-credit class, FHS 407: Global Citizenship, which will cover topics to hopefully familiarize the program participants to the social climate of Pondicherry. Ethos sat down with Service Learning Program program coordinator Laura Grangaard to discuss her goals for the latest Alternative Break SLP is offering.
Jaclyn Morris: What is the Service Learning Program all about?
Laura Grangaard: The program is a partnership between the Holden Leadership Center and the UO College of Education. It connects students to service, volunteerism, and ways to get involved on campus, in the community, and in the world. [This can be accomplished] through service whether it be courses learning about service or volunteering through day events and Alternative Breaks.
JM: What is the purpose of this program in Pondicherry, India?
LG: The India Alternative Break has three focuses: to look at human services in education, journalism and media, and sustainable architecture and agriculture. Those three main areas will have different volunteer subsets in them so students with expertise in those areas can work with community members. The students learn about what the community members do there and how it compares to here [in the United States].
JM: Why did your program choose to go to India over any other place?
LG: It’s been on [our] radar for quite a while. Our first international trips were this past spring; [we went to] Jamaica and the Dominican Republic as a test run because they’re closer. India is such a good place to go because it has so many social issues and students can apply things that they’ve learned back here and get involved in service.
JM: What do you expect the students to learn about Indian culture and social issues?
LG: We’re trying to get students involved [in this trip] that have expertise in the areas that they’ll be volunteering in. This is a good way for them to see what their fields look like in different locations and also to see how what they’re doing can be applied to help make the world a better place. They are able to see some of the challenges that surround what they’re doing in another place because at the University they’re in a more of a sheltered area and may not be exposed to some of the challenging things that they could possibly come across. That’s a lot of what the Alternative Breaks are: putting people outside their comfort zone and letting them function and see what some of the issues are so they can change.
JM: What was the spur to change the program so that the students take a class beforehand?
LG: It’s a three-week trip and [the students will be entering] a completely different culture. We thought it would be really beneficial to have people have more of a structured educational background [in where they’ll be traveling].
JM: What kind of things will they be learning in the Global Citizenship class?
LG: They will [be exposed to the culture and the language] a little bit. The course is open to people who are not going to India as well because it’s just a general Family and Human Services seminar class. It will teach cultural competence and talk about how to function in a different place. What the students will learn specifically depends a little bit on who teaches the class.
JM: What kind of work is involved in putting this Alternative Break together?
LG: As far as the students go, there are participants, site leaders, and educational partners. This team of people gets together weekly and get to know each other and talk about issues. This preparation is there so they’re familiar with each other as a team before they go and it’s not like going into this different culture without having any experience with each other. As far as the logistical end, [we are involved in] planning and [being in contact with] who we’re working with, which is always in development especially with places as far away as India.
JM: What kind of other things will the students be doing on this trip beside volunteering their services?
LG: They’ll be having some cultural experiences, traveling, and getting to know people. Usually these trips have a service component, an educational component, and a reflection component. They’ll be doing a whole lot of service and educational activities, but they’ll also have time for fun. I don’t know particularly where the students will go, but I would guess to cultural sites and markets.
JM: After the students get back from the trip, is there any sort of program that you’re hosting to reflect on their experiences and tell the community what they did?
LG: Yes. After every set of trips, we do a post-trip presentation. This one should be the second or third week of January 2012. We hold a reception and show a PowerPoint and it’s open to whoever wants to come. After this, most groups get together and have debriefs [to discuss the trip among themselves].
