In 2002 National Geographic conducted a survey accessing the geographic literacy of 18 to 24 year olds in 9 industrialized countries. The United States came in next to last—85% could not find Afghanistan on a map; 56% could not find India and 30% could not find the Pacific Ocean. Last year less than 1% of college and university students did a study abroad and 75% of them went to Western Europe.
I find these numbers a shocking reminder of how insular our country is today.
However, as I traveled around the country promoting the Women Empowered project I found many college and high school students were coming up to me after my presentation and asking how they might get involved. I began to realize that these students could be a significant source of support for empowering women and girls in the developing world. For the most part they didn’t have much money to donate but wanted to volunteer their time. The students who had traveled abroad let me know how much their trips that involved some form of community service had “changed their lives”.
Of course the most personal way to contribute is to volunteer time. University students who are not yet tied down with family obligations and mortgage payments are ideal candidates for this type of involvement. It’s an excellent way to broaden perspectives and get an experiential high by giving to something outside of oneself.
In 2009 I decided to expand and reconfigure the Women Empowered exhibition and website to, among other things, reach this younger demographic by including multimedia pieces and an expanded call to action that offered many more ways to get involved. I want the exhibition and website to inspire student participation—to make it easy for students to become advocates and to provide resources that would allow them to find study abroad or volunteer programs that focused on the issues faced by women and girls in the developing world.
I’m looking for organizations that have programs that allow university students to take a semester abroad and work with local organizations that empower women and girls. It would be ideal if the program were structured so the student could choose their specific area of interest (i.e. maternal health, micro credit, girl’s education, child trafficking, etc.) It would be even more ideal if the student could receive credit toward their degree for their time abroad. SIT –(School for International Training) is a good example. If anyone knows of organizations with programs like this I would be so appreciative if you let me know. I want a list of resources to accompany my website and exhibition Women Empowered as it travels to universities to help students that want to get involved with these issues.
I attended Antioch Education Abroad’s Comparative Women’s Studies in Europe Program in 1997 and it’s still going strong…stronger in fact as they’ve now added”gender studies” to the content area. It’s a terrific program that puts students in touch with leaders, activists, scholars, etc – discussions with such folks become the classroom as students move through 4 countries.
“Comparative Women’s and Gender Studies in Europe (WGSE) is designed for students interested in exploring women’s, gender, queer, and sexuality issues and feminist theory as they earn 16 semester credits while traveling across Europe.”
Thank you for the information, it sounds like a fantastic program.