"Let me start by saying that this trip has changed my life, my perspective, and my long term goals. This country, Thailand, is unbelievable, these people are incredible. Every day is another adventure, another story, another life altering expedition through slums, through countryside, through schools, villages, and homes. I'll never be the same again." -- Colin Jones, Lifeworks International
"We spent an evening with local Malian kids on the rooftops playing music and eating. I quickly realized how important music is to their traditions, community and culture. This amazing experience led to the "Timbuktu Music Project" in order to document and record traditional Malian music, collect instruments for talented musicians in Mali, and promote music education in local villages." -- Lucy Pecora, Global Action and Education Network
Summer study and work in foreign countries is always eye opening, especially for teenagers who have stayed close to home. Often, these experiences are life changing. For high school students looking to spend a summer abroad, the options abound: home stays, language classes, volunteer work, internships, student exchanges, and rugged adventures. Scholarships are often available.
WKCD has compiled a directory of international summer programs with which we are familiar—programs that welcome high school students and combine volunteer work, cultural and language immersion. This directory is not intended to be exhaustive; it lists programs with which we are familiar and have strong track records. Also, have not included programs where language study or touring are the primary focus. The emphasis here is on summer abroad programs that emphasize service.
Just about all of the programs described below carry participation fees that make them, tragically, out of reach for low-income students. However, two programs, Summer Search and International Youth Leadership Institute, share a unique commitment to providing ongoing and long-term support for low-income high school students.
Academic Treks
www.academictreks.com
Academic Treks, a division of Broadreach, offers college-accredited summer adventures abroad for high school students. Backed by seventeen years of experience in running educational programs for thousands of teenagers, Academic Treks combines experiential learning, traditional classroom learning and service learning with wilderness adventure, international travel and cultural exchange. Each course includes up to 55 hours of service work.
Adventures Cross-Country
www.adventurescrosscountry.com
In its 29th year, ACC continues to match service learning with global action and awareness in relation to specific world issues. This year’s offerings include wildlife conservation in East Africa and shark related issues in the Galapagos Islands. ACC’s three month Gap Semesters allow graduated seniors to fully immerse themselves into the unique cultures of Asia and Africa.
American Field Services (AFS)
www.usa.afs.org
With 55 years of experience and programs in over 100 countries, AFS is one of the largest international exchange organizations for American teens. AFS hosts summer abroad programs for high school students around the globe that combine community service and language immersion. Students can chose to live on a university campus or opt for a summer home stay.
Amigos de las Américas
www.amigoslink.org
AMIGOS trains young people to meet the challenges of planning and conducting community service programs, both in their home communities and in Latin America. Training includes topics such as Spanish/Portuguese, community assessment approaches, interpersonal communication, Latin American history and culture, medical self-care, and technical training about specific sustainable development programs. Teams of 2-3 volunteers live and work in rural Latin American communities for up to eight weeks. Working in collaboration with development agencies and community members, volunteers have leadership roles in carrying out health, education, and environmental programs, ranging from latrine construction to formation of youth groups to teaching HIV prevention and dental hygiene.
Cross Cultural Solutions
www.crossculturalsolutions.org
While geared towards volunteers of all ages, Cross Cultural Solutions also offers short-term international internships and volunteer experiences for teenagers, whether traveling independently, with their families, or with a school group. It runs programs in 12 countries in Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe, and Latin America. Volunteer placements can run from 2 to 12 weeks, and include work in orphanages and child care centers, schools, health clinics and hospitals, homes for the elderly, centers for the disabled, and other community organizations
The Experiment in International Living (EIL)
www.usexperiment.org
The Experiment in International Living offers substantive three- to five-week summer abroad programs that focus on cultural immersion, experiential learning, and making meaningful connections across national, linguistic, and cultural borders. Now in over 31 countries, EIL has given high school students the opportunity to learn another culture first-hand for almost 80 years. Programs range from learning from Peruvian artists, dancers, musicians, and historians in mountainous Trujillo, Peru to carrying out a ten-day service project in a rural village in Ghana.
The Global Education and Action Network
www.gleansworld.org
The nonprofit GLEAN provides expeditions, training, and support to teenagers researching world cultures and issues. It arranges a support network and expeditions to remote places in the world where young people interview, film, photograph, record, and learn from people living traditional lifestyles. GLEAN began in 1997 with a program called Kids Studying Eurasian Nomads (KSEN).
Global Routes
www.globalroutes.org
Global Routes offers three to five-week summer community service programs for high school students finishing the 9th through 12th grades, gap-year and semester internships for students 17 years of age and older. Students teach children in orphanages, build schools, and help people in rural villages. Community service programs this summer include destinations in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean.
Global Works
www.globalworkstravel.com
Since 1990, Global Works has been providing community service, cultural exchange, adventure travel, and language learning programs for teens and young adults. Much more than a vacation, Global Works international trips can be the impetus and “bridge” for meaningful cultural exchange. Potential destinations include Argentina, Australia, China, Costa Rica, Ecuador and the Galapagos, Fiji Island, France, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Puerto Rico, Spain.
Greek Summer
www.greeksummer.org
Started in 1970, Greek Summer offers high school students: a home stay with a Greek village family; community service work on a village project and on the campus of the American Farm School; a chance to explore Greece's historic sites and natural beauty; and a climb of the legendary peak of Mt. Olympus. Participants receive certificates of the community service hours they have performed.
High School Programs Abroad
www.highschoolprogramsabroad.com
This searchable index of thousands of abroad programs for high school students is a great resource. Programs are sorted by country, focus, duration, and language, making it easy to match interests with programs. The website also showcases opportunities, updated weekly, which show students parts of the world they'd likely never considered before.
International Doorways
www.internationaldoorways.com
From Bali to the Andes, teenage participants travel to and participate in interactive projects in rarely accessed locations. Programs combine travel, community service, cross-cultural interaction, language study, short internships and outdoor adventure internationally. The special “Serve the World” program includes two-week journeys in which students help meet the pressing needs of the local communities.
The International Youth Leadership Institute (IYLI)
www.iyli.org/
Founded in 1989, IYLI prepares African American and Latino secondary school students to assume active leadership roles in their community and global society. Through IYLI, students embark upon a lifetime of meaningful participation in their local and global communities. Signature academic programs based on the framework of history, culture, geography and environment provide training and exposure to prepare well-informed leaders and citizens. IYLI emphasizes the connections between local and global conditions, challenges and opportunities.
Lifeworks International
www.lifeworks-international.com
Lifeworks offers global programs for teens that combine community service, cultural immersion, travel and outdoor adventure. It collaborates with local service organizations to further their goals and aspirations, helping students gain cultural experience while becoming part of significant, well-established projects. Lifeworks also makes direct donations to the service organizations with which it works.
All participants are enrolled in the President’s Volunteer Service Award program—an official recognition system originated by President George Bush, Sr. in 1992, for outstanding students who participate in voluntary community service.
Seeds of Learning
www.seedsoflearning.org
Seeds of Learning works with North Americans and Central Americans to build and equip schools in Nicaragua and El Salvador, educate children and adults, and promote cross cultural understanding. Each year, it sends ten to twelve work groups of young volunteers to Central America for 7 to 14 days. While there, volunteers partner with communities, form relationships, build bridges and explore each other’s cultures while erecting or improving a school building.
Summer Search
www.summersearch.org
Summer Search is a leadership development program with a unique commitment to providing ongoing and long-term support for low-income high school students. Founded in San Francisco in 1990, Summer Search now operates seven offices nationwide helping to place more than 700 high school students annually on a path of positive change. In addition to providing two summer experiential learning programs, after sophomore and junior years, it offers weekly mentoring sessions with highly trained staff mentors, from sophomore year to graduation, and college advisory services.
VISIONS
www.visionsserviceadventures.com
Through construction-based and other service and on-site living, VISIONS challenges teens to grow thoughtfully and intentionally within a community of peers and adult leaders. It assists organizations that serve under-resourced communities, providing labor and raw materials for projects designated by communities. Student opportunities also include sustainable development, environmental or agricultural work, volunteering with young children or the elderly, internships with local artisans, farmers, fishermen, vendors and more.
Where There Be Dragons
www.wheretherebedragons.com
From a rugged journey along the ancient trade routes of Western China to exploring the diverse indigenous communities of Indonesia's outer islands, Where There Be Dragons offers intimate, yet rugged programs that introduce the beauty and challenges of life in China, Southeast Asia, the Himalayas, and Latin America. Participants make honest and rewarding connections with local communities through home-stays, service work, internships and meetings with respected leaders, artists, philosophers, and experts on the issues facing developing countries.
