Honors Experiential Learning Project Proposal Form – Community Engagement
Complete and submit this proposal inyour e-portfolio (for those with iWebfolio portfolios) or email to (if you do not have an e-portfolio in iWebfolio).
Basic Information
Full Name: Amanda Harris
UC ID #:04283036
UC Email:
Phone:304-617-5424
College:McMicken College of Arts and Sciences
Major:Biology Pre-Med
Title of Project:Volunteer experience in Medellin Columbia with Open Arms Foundation
Expected Project Start Date:July 2012
Expected Project End Date:August 2012
Project Information
- Provide a brief overview/abstract of your proposed honors experiential learning project.
This summer I will be taking a trip to Columbia where I will be working in the city of Medellin with a non-profit organization called Open Arms Foundation. This organization takes young children off the drug and crime ridden streets of the city and provides them with food, and education and a home. Another branch of this organization provides housing for unmarried mothers (as young as 13 ant 14) who are often unfortunate victims of sexual exploitation.
- Clearly state how each of the following elements will be exhibited in your work (refer to the first two pages of this document with the full description of what is expected in each of these areas).
- Substantial Content and Quality within Community Engagement Theme.
As an extremely privileged college student in the United States, I understand what a benefit it is to have a healthy family life, the opportunity to go to a university, and the ability to purchase not only what I need but also what I want. Having been out of the country multiple times before, I also understand what it is to have none of those things. I feel blessed to have so many resources at my disposal and I hope that this summer, I will be able to share some of what I have been given with children who will live there entire lives in what I, and most other citizens of this nation would consider abject poverty. I have chosen to work with the organization Open Arms Foundation because I have been an active supporter of their work since childhood, as my family is close friends with the founders. Nonetheless, I have never yet had the opportunity to experience first-hand how this organization reaches out to the community of Medellin. According to their website openarmsfoundation.com, the organization describes itself as, “A Christian organization that rescues boys and girls from the streets, giving them the opportunity to restore their lives through our program of prevention, education, training, and resocialization.”
While working with Open Arms, I will be leading a vacation bible school with children from the streets of Medellin, interacting with the boys already a part of the Open Arms’ boys home, and rocking babies in the nursery of the Girls home. I am a huge advocate of paying it forward, and I know Open Arms is the right place for me to share what I’ve been given. Just last year, a few of the first boys involved with Open Arms were able to visit my family in Huntington, West Virginia--only these were not the dirty, glue-sniffing children of the streets. These were men who grown up with people who loved them and had given them an opportunity to live happily and successfully. The admiration, respect, gratitude, and downright love that these men showed for Open Arms makes me confident that this organization will have a powerful impact on its community for years to come.
When working in Columbia this summer, I also hope to learn more about the political and socio-economic factors that influence children living on the streets of Columbia. I am aware that guerrilla warfare and the drug trade have plagued the country for many years and have made Columbia a dangerous place for many of its citizens. I also know that many of the boys taken off the streets by Open Arms are already addicted to drugs that numb their hunger. In addition, as many of the young boys grow older they are faced with the decision to join the guerillas where there are promises of food and income, or to try and function as adults in a society where they have never truly belonged. Open Arms works closely with the Columbian government in trying to help provide the children of the streets with opportunities to live successful lives as a part of the mainstream society, as a preventative measure in the battle against poverty and the guerilla movement.
- Connection to Academic Goals and Theories
As a biology pre-med student, I believe that the most important part of becoming a doctor is understanding how to help bring healing to sick and hurting people. Although I won’t actually be offering Medical Care this summer, I do hope to become more aware of the needs of people around the world and to better understand how to be compassionate to the difficulties and concerns of people who have different circumstances than my own. Before leaving this summer I hope to read the book, When Invisible Children Sing,written by Chi-Cheng Huang, a Harvard Med student who took a year off in Med-school and traveled to La Paz, Bolivia where he worked as a doctor for a local orphanage. I believe that reading this book will help me to actively analyze my role as a volunteer in Columbia, by describing the reflections of another student who had similar goals to my own. In addition, I hope to read more newspapers about the current events going on in Columbia so that I will understand social and political setting into which I am traveling. I do not believe I will be able to truly understand the lives of the children I will be working with until I have a better understanding of the government-guerilla relationship, the effects of that relationship on the country’s economy, and more specifically, how these overarching political issues effect the lives of Columbia’s poorest citizens—the street children.
- Initiative, Independence and Creativity
In planning this trip, I am coordinating all of my activities on my own. I am purchasing my own plane tickets and developing my own agenda. I am working closely with my proposal advisor in determining where my efforts would be best focused for the two weeks I plan to stay in Columbia. Usually Open Arms allows groups to come down and work in areas where there talents will be used best. For example, many teams will work on construction, inviting new street children to come to Open Arms, or spending time with the children already living with the Open Arms staff. Since I enjoy working with children, I will be organizing and running a Vacation Bible School for both the children of the streets and the children in the home. Also, after speaking with my advisor, I was told that the home for the young girls needs people who are willing to rock babies so that their mothers can go to basic trade skill classes. In addition, I also have a passion for music, and plan on sharing my talents by giving a performance for the children of Open Arms. By building my trip around my personal talents and passions, I hope to better serve the street children of Columbia.
- Reflection & Dissemination
To reflect and disseminate on my project I plan on compiling a multimedia representation of my experiences. Because I love to write, I think the best means for me personally to reflect would be to blog about my experiences, how they have impacted my view of the world, and how I plan to let them influence the way I act. Nonetheless, I also think that it is impossible to fully describe a foreign country to someone who has never been there using just words. I would also like to keep a video diary of my trip and share clips of my adventure on the honors Facebook page and on the Open Arms website.I think that sharing my trip with other honors students will help not only show them what I have learned, but also inspire them to impact the lives of others in their own communities and around the world. Beyond that, I would like for other people of all ages considering working with Open Arms to be inspired to go!
- Advisor (list the person’s name, title, and contact information)
Bill Perrow(Founder of Open Arms)
P.O. Box 7542
Charleston, WV 25356
I will be asking for Mr. Perrow’s advice in planning my trip before I leave and also be working with him in Columbia while I am there.
- Budget (if applicable)
Plane Ticket From Huntington Tristate Airport to José María Córdova International Airport – $ 1,800 with Copa Airlines according to Expedia.com
$20 a day for meal costs x 14 days = $280
$10 a day for cost of transportation (bus fares, Taxis, Trains, etc.) = $140
$80 dollars for miscellaneous expenses
$2,300.00 total