Social Work Abroad

Nikki Patrick did a wonderful article on Patty Magee and the study abroad program that took PSU Social Work students to the Dominican Republic over spring break. The program will be repeated this year. From the article:

“We went to Jaibon, a small rural community, and there we were with about 200 other U.S. and Canadian students,” Magee said. “We slept in tents and the meals were primarily beans and rice.”

The Centro para la Ninez includes an on-site school that conducts class for nearly 500 children in the community. Magee and the PSU students conducted workshops for the students in crafts, the English language and reading.”

“They’ve found that if you can introduce English to the kids in school there are a lot more job opportunities for them,” Magee said. “Reading was usually the favorite group. Some of those children had never seen a book before.”

She explained that the orphanage is not exactly the same as such facilities in the United States.

“Here, we assume that if a child is in an orphanage, his or her parents are dead,” Magee said. “In the Dominican Republic, many of the children in the orphanages do have living parents, but they can’t afford to keep them.”

One of the projects the PSU group worked on was a stone wall at the orphanage.

“They wanted a wall for security,” Magee said. “My son, Nicholas, who went with me, had just completed a masonry program, so we started a wall.”

To read the full story click here.