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nga international 2010: africa.
NextGen Academy International Service.

The idea is simple... During the year of service, the participants experience one month in a foreign country, organizing and creating service projects of their own initiative. At the beginning of the year, the participants are split into teams and are each assigned a country in which they will serve. This year, participants are in groups of 3-4 so that a greater sense of ownership and true cultural integration can occur. This revolutionary standard of having small teams is the core reason for the substantial shift that happens within each individual while oversees. The level of responsibility for the project and the level of true interaction with local people are at a height that is very rarely seen today.

There are three equally important parts to this aspect of growth; the first is the planning and preparation that happens before leaving the U.S. This time focuses on gaining practical skills in teaching character education, learning the basics of travel and also an exercise for personal creativity as each team decides what type of service would target the needs in their chosen country. The second part is the time within country.

Outwardly, each team’s main mission is to create projects that will make a lasting difference, however, another primary aspect of their time in country is to experience a new culture and through that experience gain a deeper understanding of the world and of themselves. Through changing the life of a stranger on the opposite side of the world, their own life can be changed.

The final part of this project is the recording and reflecting process that happens upon returning to the U.S. A significant part of the international projects is creating a report that can allow future years to either duplicate the project, or build upon the foundation that has already been built. This time also entails personal reflection and/or journaling to allow experiences to imprint and to let the lessons that were learned create a tangible impact on the lives of the individuals.

How it started this year

On September 28th, 2009, twenty-one strangers were gathered together and brought to a beautiful waterfront property off of Lake Washington. Music blasting, they were paraded, single-file through a crowd of people come to cheer them on. As these new NextGen participants came into the living room and introduced themselves to each other and the community, they were presented with a table full of individually wrapped gift boxes, all different sizes, and picked one before sitting back down. These boxes, they were told, were not to be opened until instructed to do so. Finally, when it seemed the introductions and presentations were coming to a close, the boxes were opened and revealed nothing but a few cardboard puzzle pieces per person. Participants then scrambled to find who amongst themselves had fitting puzzle pieces. Several minutes later, they were in groups of either three or four looking down at their completed puzzle-- a photograph. They were then shown this movie...
(Created by 2nd Year Interns Sam Roberts and Johanna Pecarsky)

What You Should Know

     This year of 2010, we are returning to four of the six countries from the previous year, including Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, and Zambia, and are embarking to two new countries, South Africa and Cote d’Ivoire. Each team consists of three to four first year participants. Over the course of the first few months, participants have attended an International Service Project Workshop, and also participated in a Train the Trainer/ Character Education Workshop. The month of January teams are given two weeks to stay at a home-stay to work together in their ISP teams to raise funds, practice and create character education lesson plans, and work together to create their projects for Africa. Later in the month and in early February teams will go out on a three week fundraising campaign in an effort to make the last of their funds for Africa, and on February 18, teams will depart to their countries. For one month, teams will work together with a guide and various contacts to implement and carry out their projects. They will be staying with home-stay families who will ensure their safety and protection during their stay. March 23rd teams will return and as a program, we will have a Closing Workshop to share our experiences and testimonies with one another, so we can see where we’ve all been the past month. We will then have a celebration event for the victory of all the teams with the community, which will then close the International Service Project section of the year.