Community-Based Learning Commons^™

Becoming A Part Of Your Community: The Personal Account Of A Student’S Journey Discovering The Impact Of Service Learning On Both Community And Personal Development At The University Level, Jacqueline M. Petras

VA Engage Journal

There is plenty of research surrounding the benefits that service learning brings to the community and students alike. But, it is far less common to break down individual experiences and greater effects service learning can have beyond the studies and statistics. Although this piece cannot speak for every service learning experience, it explores the changing mindset of my personal interaction with service learning. This autobiographical account identifies moments of personal and intellectual growth through a long form reflection of my three years as a service learning student at Virginia Commonwealth University. I wrestle with my thoughts and emotions of what …

Pushing The Boundaries Of Healing, Alankrit Shatadal

VA Engage Journal

This paper explains a summer volunteering opportunity at a nonprofit organization dedicated to creating a home environment for low-income families coming to city hospitals for intensive pediatric care. The importance of social determinants of health during the healing process is explored through examples of services provided by the Ronald McDonald House. These services range from meeting basic human needs to emotional care of pediatric patients. In addition, routes to potentially ameliorate observed challenges associated with pediatric hospitalization are discussed.

In fall 2020, Alankrit Shatadal will begin her senior year at Washington and Lee University, where she is pursuing degrees in …

Meaningful International Service Learning Experiences: Looking At The Reciprocal Nature Of Reflection And Group Connection, Emily M. Neer

VA Engage Journal

International service learning trips can provide meaningful and deep experiences where students are impacted and challenged by these experiences. In order to maximize the experience, one must understand the reciprocal relationship between reflection and group connection. In this critical reflection I will explore the ways in which reflection and group connection reciprocate each other in an international service-learning context. I discuss three concepts that I believe play crucial roles in this reciprocal relationship and their roles in three different contexts of the service immersion experience. These three concepts are reflection, stability, and vulnerability. They are explained within the contexts of …

Case Study: The Bosnia Project, Anna Mahalak

VA Engage Journal

The purpose of this report is to critically examine William & Mary’s longest running student-run service trip. The Bosnia Project has sent William & Mary students to Bosnia each summer since 1998 to run a summer camp focused on teaching English with a partner Bosnian non-governmental organization (NGO). This collaboration with NGOs in Bosnia has changed and grown over time to adapt to the needs of Bosnian youth and take advantage of new technology. As the Bosnia Project enters its fourteenth summer, the following history and context for the project, as well as an exploration of results and opportunities for …

My Community, Their Community Our Community: "Musings" On Development, Grace Leonard

VA Engage Journal

This reflection explores the collision of anthropology and civic engagement, a combination that has come to define my senior research. My fieldwork at educational NGOs in Northern Richmond and Northern Ghana caused me to question the local relevancy of NGO management strategies. How can white, middle class teachers appropriately improve educational outcomes for low-income black students in Richmond? Is compulsory education appropriate training for Ghanaian farmers? Academic theories criticize “development” for furthering power against the oppressed, while the qualitative work of NGOs is quantified to fit the needs of grant writers. I find policy can never prescribe perfectly. In order …

Case Study: Ngo Staff Implement Educational Goals In Northside Richmond, Grace Leonard

VA Engage Journal

The Richmond non-profit organization, Kid's House, complements imperfect educational models with creative and flexible community-based programs. In Northern Richmond, children living in oppressed communities have diminished educational opportunities and outcomes. I use the term "oppressed" to describe these communities because it highlights various political, social, and economic power that has historically been exerted in the process of creating poverty. An NGO's staff is effective in reaching poor students and parents when they are attuned to local social processes. Kid's House teachers negotiate an uneasy existence as mediators between the spheres of structural bureaucracy and local poverty. This ethnographic study culminated …

Tracking A Lifelong Service Commitment In Alumni Of The College Of William And Mary, Emma C. Merril

VA Engage Journal

In order to better understand the development of a commitment to service, this paper explores the lives of alumni of the College of William and Mary as case studies. It is valuable to students and academic institutions alike to track a student‟s service commitment to see if his or her college experience was able to deepen that commitment. William and Mary is an exemplar in service-learning, which is why its alumni were interviewed and used as case studies. The College of William and Mary has an Office of Civic Engagement (OCE) that has connected students with community partners since 2009 …

A Preliminary Study Of The Feasibility Of A Global Connections Mentoring Program For Panamanian Girls, Hannah Lambert

VA Engage Journal

Established in 1997, the Young Women Leaders Program (YWLP) is a mentoring program that pairs middle school girls with college women from the University of Virginia for combined group and one-on-one mentoring. In addition to their initial preventative program model, YWLP has recently begun to develop a global connections curriculum in order to create an opportunity for cultural exchange amongst girls and women across the globe. This study focused on the feasibility of developing a YWLP ―sister site‖ in Panama City, Panama and their participating in a cultural exchange with YWLP girls in Virginia.

Smoke Signals: An Investigation Of The Effects Of Eco-Stoves On Community And The Environment, Claire Hennigan, Amy Rogers

VA Engage Journal

The use of solid biomass fuels and the implementation of eco-stoves to mitigate its harmful effects has become a popular topic in discussions on global development. An article published on use of traditional fuels in The New Yorker reports, “A map of the world's poor is easy to make…just follow the smoke.” Eco-stoves are now being constructed in impoverished communities around the world as an alternative to traditional stove models as a means to improve health and overall quality of life. Global Brigades, a sustainable development NGO, has been working in communities in rural Honduras to construct an eco-stove model …