|
|
|
March 19, 2018 |
|
Barry Groups Spend Spring Break Assisting Underserved Communities Group Advances Barry’s International Learning Partnership in Haiti Alternative Spring Break Texas Team Assists Community Agencies Registration for Community Engagement Symposium in Full Swing Seats to be Reserved for Community Engagement Awards Ceremony Deadline for D.C. Internship Applications Extended to April 4 |
|
Barry Groups Spend Spring Break Assisting Underserved Communities Two groups of volunteers from In the northwestern region of At the same time, another group of Barry ASB participants were in Dr. Victor Romano, associate vice provost for student success and undergraduate studies, participated in ASB Texas. He found the experience “meaningful and even transformative” for participants. Romano said: “For any student interested in learning about the intricacies of the U.S. immigration debate, the proposed border wall, and the challenges faced by undocumented workers and their families, ASB Texas is a truly enlightening and transformative experience. Our ASB partners, Proyecto Desarrollo Humano and the In all, 16 volunteers from Barry took part in ASB earlier this month (see separate stories below). |
|
Group Advances Barry’s International Learning Partnership in Haiti The northwest region of Haiti was the destination for a seven-member group of faculty, staff, and students during spring break. The group traveled to the remote area of the Students Group members facilitated professional development activities for teacher supervisors as well as educational activities for school children. They also delivered donations of teaching materials such as globes, books, and manipulatives. As part of the professional development activities, Buckreis demonstrated methods of teaching mathematics and learning activities for early childhood. For her part, Berrien facilitated geography lessons and teambuilding activities. With the teacher supervisors, the Barry group visited a school in Port-de-Paix, the capital of “After observing the teacher supervisors with the teachers, we have a much better idea of the teaching methodologies used in The Alternative Spring Break (ASB) participants also visited schools in the rural town of Jean-Rabel and Mole-Saint-Nicolas, where Maxius, Okoh, Smith, and Wright facilitated activities learned during the professional development session for the teacher supervisors. Maxius, who is of Haitian decent and is fluent in Haitian Creole, helped with translation during the visit to schools and other places. Okoh, a student in Barry’s Baptist Health Scholars undergraduate nursing program, and Wright, a freshman studying pre-nursing, assisted with a mobile clinic in Jean-Rabel. The students took temperatures and blood pressure readings and made patients comfortable as they waited for medical staff to examine them. According the Okoh, the experience was eye-opening and very different from what she had experienced in hospitals and clinics in the Drs. Mureen Shaw and Claudette Chin, assistant professors of nursing, had made arrangements for the ASB group to assist with the clinic. They visited Shaw and Chin gave the ASB group a donation of medicine, instruments, and sanitary supplies for delivery to the clinic. The Barry group also visited two fair-trade cooperatives: a coffee and chocolate collective and a women’s artisan workshop. On the The students selected jewelry, embroidery, paintings, and other folk art for purchase and resale on campus. The proceeds of the sales will be returned to the artisans. Thanks to their employment with the artisan workshop, the CCSI’s Berrien noted, the women in the cooperative were able to send their children to school and build modest homes. This was the third year that the Alternative Breaks program contributed to education, health, and social entrepreneurship initiatives in the city of As Alternative Breaks co-advisors, Buckreis and Berrien facilitated formation sessions during the fall and spring semesters for the trip to |
|
Alternative Spring Break Texas Team Assists Community Agencies By Liz James Nine Barry representatives participated in Alternative Break’s The students on the This is the second year that a Barry team has visited the The team was hosted again by Maryknoll Missionary Sisters Ann Hayden and Patricia Edmiston. The sisters are currently serving with the St. Anne’s Catholic community, consisting of four parishes that serve the residents of several "colonias" – rural communities of mostly low-income residents along the U.S.–Mexico border. Sisters Ann and Patricia took the Barry team on a guided tour of the colonias as well as the banks of the Rio Grande and fenced border sections where the current White House administration proposes to build a border wall. The team also visited the Museum of South Texas History in Edinburg to learn more about the Lower Rio Grande Valley’s history and culture, including the Spanish, Mexican, and American influences. During two days of the weeklong trip, the Barry team visited Catholic Charities’ Some team members played with the children while their parents got a chance to eat and rest. The Spanish-speaking members of the Barry team assisted in interpreting inquiries and providing information to the newcomers. At the respite center, Dr. Victor Romano, Barry’s associate vice provost for student success and undergraduate studies, got a group of teenagers together for a pickup soccer game. Later, members of the Barry team accompanied respite center staff and the newly arrived immigrants to the local bus terminal, from where they would head to the homes of their families or loved ones and begin their lives in the United States. The pastor of St. Anne’s, Fr. Michael Montoya, met with the team to share the parish's history in the context of a border community – made up of people including those who have lived in the region before the time of the Mexican-American War and recently arrived immigrants, many of them undocumented. Montoya shared that "the national discourse on immigration paints these individual as villains when that is simply untrue.” He added: “Our lives are different from what they say we are. We see faces and stories, and our mission is to celebrate life, culture, and faith.” Sisters Caroline Kosub and Fatima Santiago, founders of Proyecto Desarollo Humano (Human Development Project), or PDH, welcomed the Barry representatives for a second year of engagement and service in the rural town of Peñitas. The service activities involved work in the community garden and thrift shop, with a micro-enterprise (sewing) project, and with preparation of a newsletter. The team from Barry also attended a folkloric dance show famous in the On their final night, the Barry team prepared an hour-long youth encounter at the request of St. Anne's clergy staff. The youth were delighted by the activities. "My trip to |
|
Registration for Community Engagement Symposium in Full Swing Registration for Barry University’s Fifth Annual Community Engagement Symposium is in progress. The event will be held on March 28 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Barry’s main campus in The symposium includes a workshop and a seminar by Nadinne Cruz, a nationally recognized service-learning pioneer; five concurrent presentations by Barry faculty, staff, and students; and a poster session. The symposium agenda also includes a short opening session set for 9:30 a.m. University Provost Dr. John Murray will deliver the opening address on the theme of the symposium, “Demonstrating Social Responsibility through Experiential Learning.” Dr. Karen Callaghan, chair of Barry’s QEP (Quality Enhancement Plan) Implementation Committee, will speak during the 30-minute closing session scheduled to start at 3:30 p.m. Here is a link to the registration site for the symposium: <http://www.barry.edu/community-engagement-symposium/?bypass=true>. For additional information regarding registration, contact the Center for Community Service Initiatives (CCSI) at service@barry.edu or 305-899-3696. |
|
Seats to be Reserved for Community Engagement Awards Ceremony The Fifth Annual Community Engagement Awards Ceremony will be held on March 28, from 5:00 to 6:30 p.m., in Room 111 of the Nadinne Cruz, former director of the Seats for the event may be reserved by replying to the invitation issued earlier this month or by contacting the CCSI at service@barry.edu or 305-899-3696. |
|
Deadline for D.C. Internship Applications Extended to April 4 The application deadline for DC Internships’ Summer 2018 Institute on Philanthropy & Voluntary Service in Washington, D.C., has been extended to April 4. Scholarship funding is available. Focused on community leadership and service, this comprehensive program includes academic credit, an internship placement, and fully furnished housing in the heart of From June 2 through July 27 this year, students may work as interns with social entrepreneurs to develop community programs; contribute to operations in a community-based urban food system; and lead enrichment activities for at-risk youth to propel future successes. An intern may also support victims of domestic violence as they rebuild safe and stable lives; raise awareness and money to combat diseases that affect millions; research nonprofit policy and report on agency program; provide hands-on training to jobseekers facing barriers to employment; or reclaim and revitalize urban green spaces for the local community. DC Internships, the institute organizer, welcomes students of all majors, freshmen through graduated seniors, and offer scholarship funding for strong applicants. Sponsored by The Fund for American Studies, the Institute on Philanthropy & Voluntary Service is an academic internship program for undergraduates active in service and leadership on their campuses and in their communities. More information on programs offered by DC Internships may be found at www.DCinternships.org/IPVS. Questions may be directed to Kayla Anderson, manager of the institute, at kanderson@tfas.org or 202-986-0384. |
Community Engagement News
Posted On : March 19, 2018
