NSLI-Y students who painted the mural posing with two members of the association.
NSLI-Y students Addie, Sofia, and Alejandra can be seen beginning to serve the snack to the students.
Visit to a Local Orphanage
In June, NSLI-Y students went with members of the Imam Ghazali association to an orphanage in a working class neighborhood of Rabat. While there, they played games with the students, including a riddle competition and a telephone game, painted a mural for the students, and put together a tea-time snack with traditional Moroccan pastries.
Community Service at Imam Ghazali High School
NSLI-Y students completed their second session of community service early July by collaborating with the Imam Ghazali students at their high school. The group painted a few murals, including the one seen here, cleaned up a garden, and repainted a number of classroom doors inside. Imam Ghazali students were in charge of organizing the event and practiced their leadership skills, while the NSLI-Y students were focused on learning as much Arabic as possible and spent much of their time practicing what they have learned so far in class.
Nirali gets to know her small group.
Ella, Vandana, and Sonali play Pictionary with their groups.
NSLI-Y Hindi Students Tutor Local Peers in English and Engage in Cultural Exchange
In June, NSLI-Y students participated in their first community service visit with the Raja Shivaray Prathishthan Marathi Medium School, hosted at a location of New India School. The NSLI-Y students tutored the students, who came from disadvantaged family backgrounds, in English and all students shared games from their respective cultures.
Volunteer Work With Korean Youth
The first volunteer work started during the third week of the program. The activity was to make Korean rice cake and honey lemon with children from low-income households in the region and spend some time with them playing games. Together, they made traditional five-color rice cake with their own creative designs and enjoyed eating it together afterward.
There were about 100 children participants in this program. Some children demonstrated their martial arts Taekwondo performance. Many moms also volunteered to make this big gathering possible.
NSLI-Y students made honey lemon and donated it to the children. During the event, the students learned about traditional Korean culture as well as shared American culture with Korean children. It was a voluntary event for our NSLI-Y participants but designed as an educational yet fun experience both for children and program participants. More importantly, the event bridged two cultures and brought NSLI-Y students and Korean children closer to each other.
Students volunteering at a local kindergarten.
NSLI-Y China Students Volunteer at local Xi'An School
Several students helped teachers and staff at a local kindergarten decorate the multipurpose hall in preparation for the kindergarten graduation ceremony.
Teaching Children at a Local Library
NSLI-Y Chinese summer participants take a group photo with teachers, library staff and children.
NSLI-Y Chinese summer participants had their first volunteer activity in Chengdu. Students spent the day at the Shuangliu Library. They began with an overview and tour with their teachers and library staff. They also covered expressions in Chinese that would be useful for their volunteer activity. Participants then taught English lessons to library visitors, mainly children, using books and games. Students appreciated the opportunity to practice their Chinese more, and in turn, teach children English. A reflection of the day follows:
NSLI-Y Chinese summer participant Martin reads with a child at Shuangliu Library in Chengdu.
”Compared to my community service in the U.S., the biggest challenge is the language barrier. My Chinese is not as good as the kids' English, that’s why we work together to overcome the difficulty. Through my study here, I have learned much more in these five days than what I learned in the U.S. for one year. I benefit a lot from this fast and intensive learning.” -Martin
NSLI-Y Students Engage in Language Exchange with Korean Youth
This was the second volunteering project for NSLI-Y students in Korea. They made Kimbap with local children from low-income households in Incheon City and played games with them. They had a fun time with the kids trying to teach them English and the kids teaching the NSLI-Y students Korean.