October 26, 2017
This January, 19 Ursuline students, faculty, alumni, and community members will return to Nepal for two weeks of service to vulnerable children. This trip is part of the Counseling and Art Therapy Department’s Service Learning Program, which was created in 2012 to help students increase awareness of global issues, seek justice and action, sow kindness, and explore the world outside of the privilege of living in the United States.
This year’s group will join forces with 12 students and faculty from Mercyhurst University’s undergrad art therapy program to work on projects at three organizations. The Mercyhurst cohort will work at Samata School, a low-fee school for impoverished children, to provide creative arts and recreation. One Ursuline group will work at PA Nepal, an organization that works with children of imprisoned women, while the other Ursuline group will work with girls who have been sexually abused or trafficked at Antardristi Safe House.
Professor Katherine Jackson, PhD, who led the 2016 trip, said the purpose of the trip is not to change the children or make things better. Rather, she said, “We will work within the framework that already exists to empower the children from within. Activities for each site will include cultural sharing, creating intentions, hopes and dreams for the future, sharing feelings, dialogs about education for underprivileged boys and girls, and an immersion into Hindu and Buddhist cultures.”
For more information about service learning opportunities at Ursuline, please contact Katherine Jackson.
