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Program offers another chance to study, volunteer abroad

Nov. 27, 2007

By Shannon Daily
Reporter

Projects Abroad, an England-based volunteer group, held an interest meeting Monday in the Baylor Sciences Building. Program adviser Jacob Lowe spoke to students about Project Abroad's goals, which are helping others, helping students learn and exploring new places.

The group sends around 3,500 volunteers out each year. About half of the volunteers are from England and the rest come from the United States and other countries all over the world.

Aside from resume purposes, the opportunity to study abroad provides students a chance for true cultural immersion, offering language and dissertation programs. These placements are more educationally based, but still provide participants with a chance to volunteer.

"If your main goal is to become fluent in another language, then getting kicked off in the deep ends is a primary motivator," Lowe said. "You learn more in a month than you would in school for a whole semester."

Teaching English and studying medicine are two of the main things students participate in on these studying abroad trips, but there are an array of other areas of study such as business, journalism and law.

Those interested in corporate law go to China to help foreign investors navigate the extremely complicated legal system.

Volunteers rarely get to choose the when, where and why of their excursions, but Projects Abroad aims to allow its volunteers to outline the parameters of their trips to meet personal needs.

For a price, participants are able to work in areas anywhere from wildlife conservation to medicine to photojournalism and from as short as two weeks to as long as a year.

"If someone has more tailored needs we can see if we have something that works for them," program adviser Kelsy Nelson said.

What makes Projects Abroad stand out from other volunteer organizations the most is its personal relationships with the people it volunteers for.

It doesn't subcontract or send anyone out on their own, and every volunteer has a local Projects Abroad office they can go to for help if anything comes up, Nelson said.

When the application process begins, applicants provide general information and references to the program.

"We need someone who will vouch for them that they will be successful in an overseas situation," Nelson said.

Then it begins to narrow down the region the volunteers will work in and what type of work they'll actually do.

"Our most popular placements are in medicine, teaching and working in orphanages," Nelson said. "You have to make sure you know what you're interested in. If you just volunteer to work in an orphanage because it sounds good, the experience may not be as worthwhile."

Baylor alumni Marilyn Lim and Van Darden have each worked with the program. Lim traveled to Shanghai, China, last year to work as an intern for an English-language magazine while Darden had a journalism internship in Brasov, Romania.

"I've definitely thought of going abroad and that seems like it would be a cool way to do it," Houston junior Dodge Grootemaat said.

But the $1,500 price tag would be reason to reconsider, he said.

Students now are interested for both the academic and volunteering experience.

"It'd be cool to pick where you go or what you do," Cypress senior Courtney Oehler said.

As a pre-med student, Oehler has her future in mind. "Something med schools look for is showing that you really have a compassion for people."

Lowe said college is the best time for students to take advantage of such a learning opportunity.

"Nothing teaches a student more about who they are and who they want to be than studying abroad," he said. "Stepping outside of the box, stepping away from the influences of your family, friends and professors teaches you to grow. Initially, you embark upon this journey by yourself, and you'd be amazed at how much you can push yourself to do."

Staff writer Sommer Ingram contributed to this story.

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