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Dear Michael,
As summer approaches, Amizade opportunities are filling
quickly! Whether your interests include intercultural
service in Australia or backcountry service in Montana,
now is the time to secure your spot on a summer
service experience.
Amizade volunteers hail from around the world and
range in age from 12-79. Become part of the family!
Congratulations to universities and colleges that have
recently committed their students to Amizade
experiences on the Navajo Nation: Wells College, the
University of Pittsburgh,
Ferrum College, Emerson College, North Carolina State
University, the University of North Florida, and
Lafayette College. We thank the students, staff,
faculty, administrators, and Navajo community partners
who made the programs possible.
| Earn University of Pittsburgh Credit while Serving Abroad! |
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The Amizade Global Service-Learning Center at the
University of Pittsburgh still has openings for nine
different service-learning courses that will take place
this summer. From Bolivia to Tanzania, Art History to
Sociology, the AGSLC has a wide array of opportunities
for students and professionals. Amizade is mission-
driven to make the programs as affordable and
accessible as possible.
Opportunities even exist for graduate students or
advanced and distinguished undergrads, who may
receive three graduate credits through a Community
Development course that will take place predominately
in Peru. Credits will be issued through Pitt's highly
regarded Graduate School of Public and International
Affairs.
The Community Development course, led by Dr. Laura
Hastings, will explore contemporary development issues
from a theoretical and applied perspective. Similarly,
the undergraduate course in Bulgaria, "Studying
International Development through Service-Learning,"
examines contemporary issues in countries with EU
Associate Status.
Other courses include Anthropology/Africana Studies in
Tanzania, Film Studies in Bolivia, Sociology in Jamaica,
Economics in Ghana, English Writing in Ghana, English
Literature in Tibet, and Art History in Northern Ireland.
More Information on International Service-Learning »
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| Australia: Serve, Earn Credits through Waynesburg College |
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Between May 15 and June 16 a select group of
students will serve with and learn from an indigenous
community near Hervey Bay, Australia. Among
Kangaroos and Kauri Trees, wallabies and humpback
whales, students will
integrate course reading assigments with intercultural
service experiences to consider questions of race in
contemporary Australia. During one week, students will
explore the Australian Outback.
Fraser Island and the Great Barrier Reef are both
accessible from Hervey Bay, and may be visited on
weekend trips. Students will serve with the Korrawinga
Community Farm, a community organization that
preserves indigenous culture within the context of self-
reliance.
Students may assist with a variety of efforts, including
the construction of a cultural arts educational center
for the general public, the harvesting of Tea Tree
plants, and working with indigenous artists. Class
meetings will take place three to four times per week
during the evenings at the Queensland School of
Adventure & Training's Bethshan Accommodation &
Adventure Centre.
Students who complete the course successfully will,
depending upon the course track they choose, earn
between one and three credits in "255 - Survey of
Australian Indigenous
Culture" from Waynesburg College. Non-Waynesburg
students are especially encouraged to apply. For more
information or to register for the course, call Amizade
at (888) 973-4443.
More About the Australia Partnership! »
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| Wells College Students Serve and Learn with Navajo Nation |
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A group of Wells College students recently spent a
week on the Navajo Reservation where they tutored at
a local elementary school and engaged in cultural
activities. The week on all accounts was a positive
experience, filled with community, friendship, learning,
and challenges.
The group worked with Tuba City Boarding school
system teachers in grades K-2. They offered one-on-
one teaching assistance with the Navajo children, in
order to help them through academic problems of their
respective grades. Although the Wells students
prepared carefully, they did not know precisely what
their volunteer roles would be or how they would
interact with the Navajo youth. According to Wells
College Instructor and group participant Susan Talbot,
once in the classroom the Wells women encountered
young minds "eager to learn" with an "openness to have
them (Wells) enter into their lives."
When they were out of the classroom, the Wells group
experienced the community and surrounding landscape.
The group learned of the central importance placed on
family, pride and spiritual connection with the land in
Navajo culture. "It was like visiting someone's church,"
Talbot stated as she explained what it was like to walk
through the land with a Navajo guide, "It's a gift given
to them." Additionally, the group interacted with
community members, including Merril Sandovil, a WWII
Navajo Code Talker. Sandovil talked to the group
about his life experiences, his unique position as a
Navajo and American solider in the war, and the
significance of the Navajo Code in the eventual
victory.
"This program perfectly summed up the Amizade
experience and mission," indicated Michael Sandy, who
served as on-site coordinator for this program. "In all
aspects it demonstrated just how communities of
people could work together for mutual understanding
and cooperation."
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| Hike, Serve, Ponder in the Absaroka Beartooth Wilderness, Montana |
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In a 920,000 acre wilderness tract that boasts elk,
bighorn sheep, moose, grizzly and black bear, ten
Amizade volunteers will have the
opportunity to complete a backcountry service project
with the US Forest Service in June. Physically
demanding days will be capped with evenings of
mentally stimulating discussion on service and
citizenship. A rare
opportunity for personal challenge, growth, and
renewal, the program will begin with a
12 mile hike to the service site. Motors are not
permitted in the wilderness,
so volunteers will use stock and manual power as they
restore an outpost cabin that was originally completed
in 1923.
This program builds on Amizade's long-standing
commitment to the historical renovation of the OTO
ranch. The OTO was one of the first guest ranches in
the West, a spot that had guests with names like
Roosevelt and Rockefeller. Volunteers, who
should be prepared for hard work at high altitude, will
have daily opportunities to explore the area surrounding
the work site.
On working days volunteers will replace the old porch
and perform miscellaneous repair jobs on the cabin. No
previous skills are required. Volunteers will find any
needed replacement logs in the neighboring stands of
lodgepole pine. During the workday, volunteers will use
crosscut saws and draw knives to prepare and strip
logs for installation.
The total fee for the program, which will take place
from Sunday morning June 1 to Saturday evening June
7, is $300. To register, download a program application
from the Amizade website and send it to the Amizade
office or call 412-441-6655. Program fees are
usually
tax deductible and volunteers are responsible for
getting to Gardiner, MT. Gardiner, located in Southwest
Montana, is also a gateway to Yellowstone National
Park and offers ample opportunity for recreational
activities before or after the program.
More Information on the OTO
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