Human Services

It will be a spring break that will change their lives.

A group of 13 Lakeland College students will be the first Canadian students to team up with the Community Service Alliance in the Dominican Republic for a three-week international service practicum experience from April 9 to 29.

All of the students are enrolled in the college’s child and youth care, and early learning and child care programs at the Vermilion campus. They will be accompanied to the Dominican by Lakeland instructors Deb Ward and Tricia Smith.

During the international practicum, the Lakeland students will be involved in a number of projects that support children, youth, families and communities in poverty stricken areas. During the first week, they will be working in Dominican schools with teachers of pre-school children as well as elementary and junior high students. They will also work with organizations that offer in-home education and outreach programs for families and children.

Lakeland’s students will also help develop and deliver programs to support older youth in the community. Using a train-the-trainer approach, the students will educate community youth leaders about public health issues such as drug awareness and sexual health and empower them to take key messages to their peers.

During the last week of the international practicum, the Lakeland students will take on the role of construction workers as they roll up their sleeves to help build latrines and a local community shelter.
To prepare for the trip, the Lakeland students had a chance to meet one of their hosts, Joy Bittner, CSA’s administrator of international exchange programs, during a Skype session that connected the Vermilion campus with Santa Domingo on Tuesday, March 6. It was a great opportunity for the students to get a first-hand account of what they can expect during the trip.

“None of the students going to the Dominican have been there before or have done this kind of development work in a third world country,” says Pat Wasylik, chair of the college’s human services programs. “The chance to speak with Joy directly answered a lot of questions for them.”
 
Shelbie Symon agrees. She’s a first-year early learning and child care student who hails from Grande Prairie, Alta. She has never travelled outside of North America before.

“It will be very unique experience,” says Symon. “I’m very much looking forward to seeing the culture, learning about their lives, and working with the Dominican people. It will be a great opportunity.”

Bittner agrees and adds that she is confident that the experience will be just as beneficial to the Canadian students’ own personal growth and development as it is for the Dominican people.

“The most common term I hear from people who have worked with us here during previous experiences is ‘life changing.’ I don’t mean to sound cliché but when people come here they see poverty, they see struggle, but they are also inspired by the life, energy and amazing resiliency of the Dominican people. The work here is challenging and it requires an openness to allow for personal growth. I am confident that the students from Lakeland will find their experience to be the same. After speaking with them and their instructors, I know that they will do well. I am really looking forward to having them come.”

In photo: Lakeland students and faculty connect with Joy Bittner, international exchange program administrator for the Community Service Alliance in the Dominican Republic, answers questions from human services program students and faculty about what they can expect to find when they arrive in the Dominican Republic next month for their service practicum experience.