Embedded Files
The 096 Service-learning Practicum organized by the Shriver Center at UMBC offers opportunities for students to volunteer 3-5 hours a week during the semester at a local service site for a 0-credit notation on their transcript. I have completed this practicum for four semesters over my career at UMBC. In my Freshman year, I volunteered at Saint Agnes Hospital down the street and one summer I received recognition for spending one month volunteering with a nonprofit in Indonesia. I'd like to focus on the Fall 2017 semester that I spent volunteering at the Esperanza Center in Baltimore. Every week for three hours I would meet with Central American immigrants to teach/tutor English there.
The 096 Service-learning Practicum organized by the Shriver Center at UMBC offers opportunities for students to volunteer 3-5 hours a week during the semester at a local service site for a 0-credit notation on their transcript. I have completed this practicum for four semesters over my career at UMBC. In my Freshman year, I volunteered at Saint Agnes Hospital down the street and one summer I received recognition for spending one month volunteering with a nonprofit in Indonesia. I'd like to focus on the Fall 2017 semester that I spent volunteering at the Esperanza Center in Baltimore. Every week for three hours I would meet with Central American immigrants to teach/tutor English there.
While this service may not seem connected to the Grand Challenge of Access to Clean Water, these opportunities have given me the chance to practice my Spanish language skills. This is relevant because in low and middle income countries, some of which can be found in Spanish-speaking regions of the world, many people struggle to access clean water and/or improved sanitation.
While this service may not seem connected to the Grand Challenge of Access to Clean Water, these opportunities have given me the chance to practice my Spanish language skills. This is relevant because in low and middle income countries, some of which can be found in Spanish-speaking regions of the world, many people struggle to access clean water and/or improved sanitation.
Community Engagement and Civic Agency
Community Engagement and Civic Agency
My position at Saint Agnes Hospital and at the Esperanza Center helped me to get acquainted with Baltimore City as an out-of-state student. My interactions with Central American immigrants living in Baltimore inspired me to become more active in advocating for local resources and widespread acceptance of immigrants.
Realistic Vision and Flexibility
Realistic Vision and Flexibility
It is exciting to have resources and ideas about how to solve the clean water crisis, but without the ability to communicate and form relationships using their own language, the projects may not go as planned. Teaching English is always something that requires a lot of flexibility because of factors like comprehension level, literacy, and varying interests.
Capacity for Reflection and Social Analysis
Capacity for Reflection and Social Analysis
The Service-learning practicum through the Shriver Center includes weekly reflection essays regarding the impact your service has on the community and what steps you might take to further that impact. Volunteering at the Esperanza Center specifically gives one a degree of insight to the experiences of immigrants, refugees, and asylum-seekers in the complicated systems within the United States. It also makes one consider the reasons behind each individual's decision to leave their home country.
Water Quality Statistics from... http://www.who.int/en/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/drinking-water
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