Kenya Service-Learning Partnership Project
Ombogo Girls' Academy, Homa Bay and Slum Doctor Programme, Bellingham
The Center for Service-Learning began planning an international service-learning program in the Summer of 2007 that complements our work in the local community and will meet future demands for student and faculty interest in international education. Currently, our interdisciplinary international service-learning planning committee includes: Angela Harwood, Secondary Education, Shearlean Duke, Journalism, Kristi Tyran, Business Management, Marie Eaton, Fairhaven College and Tim Costello, Center for Service-Learning. We are developing an international service-learning model that can be used campus-wide and that will help prepare students for the demands of today's complex and interdependent world.
The goal for this international program is to use service-learning to provide international experiences for WWU students and faculty that go beyond the typical study abroad programs. We have formed a partnership with Slum Doctor Programme, a local nonprofit organization founded to address the needs of people impacted by AIDS in East Africa. Their partnership with Ombogo Girls' Academy, a secondary boarding school in rural impoverished Kenya, paved the way for an immediate and trusted international partnership between Ombogo Academy and WWU. This project site in Kenya was also chosen for its various needs that fit across many academic disciplines at WWU.
Our Vision:
The world will be a better place through engaged partnerships between students, faculty, and local and global communities, where all participants gain a broader perspective of their role in the social, intellectual and human world. These partnerships are an essential part of Western Washington University's place as the premier public comprehensive university.
What We Want To Do:
- Represent the best of Western Washington University in an international arena
- Develop an interdisciplinary pilot program for international service-learning, using the Kenya project site, that will be transferrable to other international sites
- Develop a service-learning model that is interdisciplinary and faculty-led
- Develop curriculum and learning plans for students in our international service-learning program. This will include curriculum for a one quarter pre-trip preparation class, curriculum for the overseas experience and curriculum for a post-trip one quarter seminar class
- Provide opportunities to students for undergraduate and/or graduate research
- Meet the needs as stated by our community partners, while providing a rich learning experience for our students
- Develop sustained and long term partnerships between WWU and one or more project sites in Kenya
