Bug Buffet, source foodista.com
Sorry, I know it’s sophomoric, but when I wanted an image to communicate Culture Shock (from a United States/Western European perspective) I couldn’t resist the photo of basically a ‘bug buffet.” I know I’ve heard they are full of protein, even tasy, but from my own cultural perspective, I don’t see myself digging in!
But that was not really the topic of the day. I’ve spent the last three days at a conference on Higher Education and International Volunteer Service, presented by Partners of the Americas, the International Volunteering Project at Brookings, and the Building Bridges Coalition.
Over 300 people from across the US and across the Americas have convened to look at ways to work in partnership with government agencies, NGO’s, Universities and Volunteer Service Organizations to spread the power of Person to Person Diplomacy via international volunteer service.
I facilitated a session on “Preparing, Training, Tracking and Reinegrating volunteers. Combined, the members of my panel, in just the past year alone had sent 11,000 volunteers to 75 countries to work in partnership with local entities on service projects: Projects-Abroad, United Planet, University of Minissota Learning Abroad Center, and World Learning Global Dialogues.
