Navajo
Nation Spring Break
Journeys With Indigenous Cultures
From March 22 through March 29, 2008, Amizade is offering
a 1 to 3 credit course in psychology in the Navajo nation. The course, Jour
neys with Indigenous Cultures, will focus on Psychological Processes a
nd Self-Awareness. The academic components will center on the psycholo
gical and social processes that are evoked when visiting, working, or other
wise living with a cultural group different from one's own experience.
Stu
dents will interact with local Navajo people in a service-learning context.
The teaching team will include WVU professor Dr. Dan McNeil, a site direct
or, and a global service learning facilitator. There will be opportunities
to hike and visit other sites on the Navajo reservation, allowing
a fuller understanding of the role of the natural world in Navajo culture.
Students will have opportunities to learn more about Navajo history,
spirituality, current social issues, and vision of the future from local in
dividuals and local perspectives.
For more information, visit:
http://www.globalservicelearning
.org/spring08/navajo.html
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Current Bolivia Student Reflects
This Could be You!
It's hard to believe we've only been in Bolivia three weeks. I think I can safely speak for the fo
ur of us here this semester when I say that Cochabambinos make fast friends
and family in a city that is easy to love. Just hours after we stepped off
the plane from La Paz we were taken to our host households, the homes of f
our loving families eager to share their houses, cities, cultures, and live
s with complete strangers. Us.
While our new host-mothers worried at home just like our re
al mothers were probably doing back in the U.S., we spent the first week ex
ploring Cochabamba, a beautiful city full of flowering trees surrounded by
mountains reaching up on all sides. As people here keep reminding me, they
are not really mountains, just the foothills of the Andes. Maybe this is because I grew up in city that
's about 20 feet above sea level, but I still say they're mountains.
Most of our classes are held in the Archeological M
useum downtown, just one block from the main plaza. Every day on the way to
class, where we learn Spanish, Bolivian History, Latin American Politics,
and Global-Service Learning, we pass hundreds of Cochabambinos in the Plaza
Principal just a hundred meters away, gathering to rally for human rights
or to speak out against injustice. Here, in a country where natural beauty is juxtaposed by rampant pov
erty, I have seen true democracy in action. Whether demonstrating against unjust firings of city worker
s, to expose the poor upkeep of roads, or in support of Evo Morales, the in
digenous president elected last year, Cochabambinos have shown me what real
democracy looks like, and have made me realize how much so many of us take
for granted in the United States.
Although it is easy to feel helpless in the face of Bolivia
's dark history, current poverty, and persisting oppression of the indigeno
us population, we can find a bit of empowerment in our service here with Am
izade's partners, Millennium orphanage and the CEOLI school for handicapped
children and young adults. Our fine homes in the north of the city are lov
ely to live in, but going to the southern, poorer part of the city, where t
he reality of Bolivia is not so hidden, just feels right. We have only just
begun our service, but I look forward to getting to know the children and
staff who have been so welcoming to us all.
This past weekend we got a chance to venture out of
the city to Toro Toro, one of Bolivia's beautiful mountain towns about 90
miles from Cochabamba. We pr
acticed our Spanish and pathetically limited Quechua with the infinitely pa
tient townspeople of Toro Toro, the first place I've ever been that boasts
hundreds of dinosaur footprints preserved in the rock. We hiked into a canyon, swam under waterfalls, j
umped off cliffs into icy water below, and explored two caves, a first for
many of us. Undoubtedly the
next two months will bring more new people, places, adventures, questions,
and understanding. I can't w
ait.
By:
Laura Smith |
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2008 Amizade Courses Announced
Explore. Serve. Understand.
2008 Amizade course offerings have been announced
at www.globalservicelearning.org! Students may choose amo
ng winter break, spring break, summer vacation, and semester long options.
Courses are offered in Bolivia, Chile, Germany, Ghana, Jamaica, Navajo Nati
on, Northern Ireland, and Tanzania. Amizade courses are the most affordable
of their kind and financial aid and scholarship opportunities are readily
available.
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Northe
rn Ireland Overview
2008 Summer Course
In partnership with the West Virginia University Division
of Social Work, Amizade Global Service Learning offers a Peace and Reconcil
iation course in Northern Ireland. Students travel to Dublin, Derry,
Belfast, Glencree Center for Peace and Reconciliation, and the Corrymeela C
ommunity Centre of Reconciliation. The coursework focuses on the "Tro
ubles" in Northern Ireland.
Students take
part in a course in which they learn about different forms of dialogue and
deliberation. Although Northern Ireland has been at peace for 8 year
s, there are still post-conflict social problems. The process of rebu
ilding a nation both economically and politically is underway, and students
have the opportunity to see this process first hand.
&n
bsp;
Students a
ttend many different cultural events featuring traditional Irish music and
culture. For two nights, students stay in a restored castle, Glencree
, which is now home to a non-profit organization which facilitates dialogue
s between groups involved in The Troubles.
Financial aid and scholarships are readily available at universities
as well as through Amizade. There are 12 spots available for the summer 200
8 course, so do not wait to get involved. The Northern Ireland Peace and Re
conciliation course is an amazing learning experience, in a truly amazing p
lace.
By;
Matt Wolf
son
Amizade Northern Ireland 2007
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| Give & Get! |
Every donor who gives $1
00 or more between now and November 30, 2007 will be entered in a
drawing to receive a free week at a condominium in Ocean City, Maryland du
ring early June 2008! |
| The beach week prize is not exchan
geable and dates are non-negotiable. |
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Graduate Degree Opportunity In Community and Economic Development
Applied Community and Economic Development
Program Outline:
Illinois State University's Stevenson
Center for Community and Economic Development welcomes Amizade alumni as A
pplied Community and Economic Development (ACED) Fellows.
ACED Fellows complete one calendar ye
ar of on-campus study, including the core courses for a master's degree in
Applied Economics, Political Science, or Sociology, each with an interdisci
plinary sequence in Applied Community/Economic Development. Fellows then co
mplete an 11-month paid professional internship. ACED Fell
ows have a graduate assistantship and stipend during the f
all and spring semester on campus, and they receive a full tuition
waiver over the 2-year program. Fellows not only assist communitie
s in need but also enhance their skills and gain credentials as development
professionals.
ACED Fellows must have at least one y
ear of full-time experience in community development of social services or
the equivalent (1,700 hours)-as either a paid professional or a volunteer-p
rior to starting classes.
Degree Programs Offered:
Master's degrees in Applied Economics
, Political Science, or Sociology, each with an interdisciplinary sequence
in Applied Community/Economic Development.
Contact Information:
Beverly A. Beyer, Assistant Director for Student Affairs
Illinois State University
Stevenson Cent
er for Community and Econo
mic Development
Campus Box 4200
Normal, IL 61790-4200
Phone: 309-438-7090
Email: StevensonCenter@IllinoisState.edu
Website
: http://www.steve
nsoncenter.org |
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