Students to Circle the Globe to Serve this Summer
About two dozen Westmont students will spend at least one month this summer serving communities around the world, including Guatemala, Bolivia, Uganda, China and Nepal. The Emmaus Road program is in its 13th year, sponsoring activities that serve to increase awareness of global concerns, broadening the worldview of students and promoting the value of diversity.
“It supports Westmont’s global distinctive by providing a co-curricular laboratory for students to further develop intellectually, socially and spiritually into globally-minded men and women,” says Jeremy Fletcher, coordinator of student ministries and missions.
The first trip (June 9 – Aug. 2) will take four students to Casa Bernabe´, an orphanage in Guatemala. There, students will assist staff and missionaries who are working with more than 160 traumatized children who have been rescued from abandonment, trafficking and other horrific situations.
Four students travel to China (June 13 – July 12) to join International Care Community. Students will care for mentally and physically handicapped children at the Sarang orphanage in Qingdao. In a nation with restricted access, students will teach English and assist with an art and music rehabilitation program.
For the first time, an Emmaus Road team will support community development projects in Nepal (June 14 – July 10). Five students will work in and around Kathmandu with New Life Nepal, a non-profit organization that works in underprivileged communities. Students will teach English, basic computer skills and sewing. They will also build relationships with at-risk youth and assist with agricultural development in the region.
In Uganda (June 15 – July 15), four students will serve at Faith Children’s Home, working primarily with orphans, widows and elders. Students will take part in community outreach projects to hospitals, prisons and schools. They will assist with renovations to the children’s home and teach AIDS and HIV awareness to teenagers and adults.
Five students will travel to Bolivia (June 20 – July 20), volunteering at Hospitals of Hope, a non-profit Christian medical missions organization. The students aim to improve the healthcare of the under-served by holding medical outreach clinics. Premed students will get the opportunity to see medical missions in action first hand and assist by shadowing doctors, working in medical outreach clinics. Team members will also get involved in the local community by visiting orphanages and reaching out to under-served children.
“Whether it be providing rural medical care in Bolivia, doing community development projects to support new churches in Nepal, participating in art and rehabilitation programs for handicapped children in China, or supporting aftercare efforts for trafficking victims in Guatemala, it’s our aim to add sustainable value to the community we are serving in,” Fletcher says. “We do this by supporting the long-term partner on the ground — the one who knows the people, the local culture, and the needs of the community best.”
Each student is required to raise $3,000 for their trip. Last year, all trips were funded prior to the first team departing — a first for Emmaus Road in a decade. To help with this year’s service trips, please visit: www.westmont.edu/studentministries.