Document Type

Poster

Publication Date

4-23-2015

Disciplines

Education | Higher Education | International and Area Studies | International and Comparative Education | Latin American Studies

Advisor

Dianne Johnstone, Center for Global Education

Abstract

Off the sandy beaches of Las Terrenas, The Dominican Republic, lies La Fundación Mahatma Gandhi and an energetic, ambitious, kind-hearted, and humble man, José Bourget, founder of the foundation. With the help of Bourget, six interns from the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University lead summer camps at the foundation and in a nearby neighborhood. Children picked up trash, learned about dental hygiene, participated in new games, banged on musical instruments, and shouted out their favorite foods while learning about nutrition. The children in Las Terrenas and neighboring communities enjoyed summer camp activities but what the interns of 2014 learned was the impact of their small actions. The children in Las Terrenas relished in coloring, mask-making, singing, receiving new toothbrushes, or getting small fruit cups. We believed we were the instructors but, in turn, the children taught us that what may seem like the smallest, most insignificant actions, can mean the world to another person.

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