After completing the readings and class discussion, suggest 3 overarching key concepts or guidelines that will be important to ethical service engagement. List the principles and provide a rational as to why you chose each one.

While there is a lot that goes into ensuring that service is being conducted ethically, I think that the most important principle is to make sure that the service is reciprocally beneficial to both the host community and the service-providers or volunteers. It’s easy to see when a volunteer is benefiting from their service. Volunteers get to meet new people, travel and try to new things, all while learning and ideally doing something good for the community they are serving. I think it’s much more difficult to see benefits in a host community because often the effects of hosting volunteers manifest over a longer period of time. A volunteer is positively or negatively affected immediately, while the effects on a community are much less apparent. I think volunteer organizations often focus less on this side of their work than on the volunteer side as we could see in some of the case-studies. Even though it’s harder to see and quantify the effects of volunteer organizations on host-communities, this is perhaps the most important part of conducting ethical service. If the service is not mutually beneficial to both the volunteers and the host community then it’s not ethical.

The second most important thing in conducting ethical service is cooperation between the host community and the service organization. Both groups should work together to plan to determine what the host community wants and what they can take on. Members of the host community need to be actively involved in the entire process to ensure that they’re getting what they want out of the service and that the service is benefitting them.

The third important guideline would be to ensure that volunteers are educated about the place they will be serving. If they are going to be traveling to a foreign country, they need to know about the history and culture of that county. They should also be familiarized with common social practices and customs to make sure that they can be culturally sensitive and also to help them through their own culture shock. They also need to be very familiar with the specific issue they will be working with in country. Additionally, host communities should be educated about the volunteers they will be taking in to reduce cultural miscommunications and help the host community prepare so that they can get the most out of having the volunteers in their communities. Educating and preparing both the volunteers and the host community will make the experience more positive for everyone.

Journal 2: What are your goals for your service experience? Develop SMART goals based on the following categories: Language, Country, Social Issue, Service/Research, Personal, Pre-Service, In-Country, and Post-Service

Language & Country: I’ve always wanted to speak Spanish so I’m really excited to be able to completely immerse myself in Spanish this summer. Although I won’t be fluent after just a few months in Ecuador, I hope to speak more confidently and fluidly by the end of my internship. Language classes will be a part of the program, but I think that I will learn more from just talking to people and using Spanish as much as I can. I also want to really explore and experience Quito and Ecuador this summer and see more than just the typical touristy things. I think that by making friends with locals and developing good relationships with friends and my host family I will be able to improve my Spanish and also see more of Quito.

Social Issue: While I’ve done a lot of research on sexual and reproductive health in Ecuador, I hope to get a fuller understanding of the issue while I’m in Ecuador. I’m interested in learning more about how the NGO I will be working with operates in such a conservative climate. I also hope to learn strategies for discussing sensitive issues like sexual and reproductive health while being respectful of culture and traditions and at the same time helping to change people’s attitudes and making a difference.

Pre-Service: I want to be as prepared as I can be before I go to Quito. I know that there’s a lot I can’t prepare for, but I do want to make sure I know as much about my social issue as possible and about Ecuador in order to be a more effective volunteer and be more useful to the NGO I’ll be working with. I will continue to research Ecuador and read news from Ecuador to make sure I stay up to date and aware.

Service/In-Country: I’m not quite sure what I’ll be doing for the NGO this summer, but no matter what it is, I hope to do meaningful and useful work, while keeping in mind what we learned in class this semester about the ethics of service and different models for service. I also hope to learn a lot from the NGO and get as much out of this experience as possible by developing good relationships with the people working with the NGO and talking with them and getting to know them.

Post-Service: I want to be able to bring what I learn during this experience back home. While the United States is much more open about topics like sexual and reproductive health, it’s still an extremely important issue and a lot of people here aren’t getting access to the health services they need. I want to take what I learn in Ecuador and use it as a student at Rice and as a future doctor. During the summer, I also want to think about how to describe my experience effectively when I come home so that I’m prepared to effectively share my experience with others when I get home.

Personal: I’ve been thinking about possibly working abroad or working in international service after I graduate from Rice and go to medical school. I think this experience will be a great opportunity for me to get a better idea of what that would be like. I have also recently been thinking that I might want to focus on women’s health and topics such as sexual and reproductive health as a doctor. I hope this internship can help me get a better idea of what kind of job I want and what I want to do long-term. I also want to have fun, make friends, be adventurous and challenge myself to step outside my comfort zone during my internship. I think this will help me learn more about myself and help me have the best experience possible.

Journal 1: Reflecting on week 1 and week 2 classes and readings, please articulate your own arguments (for and/or against) international development work. What are your recommendations for conducting service in a manner which is respectful to the host community?

I have had mixed feelings about international development and volunteering in general for the past few years. On the one hand, I have had great experiences volunteering where I felt like I was useful and actually made a difference and I have also had experiences where I felt useless and in the way. This is something I worry about when I think about international service as well. There seem to be a lot of cases where volunteers or international development workers from developed countries go to a developing nation, but don’t actually achieve anything and even negatively affect the community. As Ivan Illich articulated in “To Hell with Good Intentions,” just having good intentions really isn’t enough. I think this is a huge issue and something to be extremely mindful of in international development work, but I also think that if people go about international development in the right way, it can be very successful.

The first two classes this semester have helped me to reflect on my feelings about international development and service. I’ve come to the conclusion that I support international development work but I think it needs to be conducted in a certain way. For starters, volunteers and international development workers should not go into their service thinking that they are there to help. I think saying that you are “helping” creates a sense of superiority and condescension, and also focuses your development work on the negative aspects of the community you are working with. As described by asset-based community development theory, if development workers focus too much on the needs or deficiencies of a community, that community may start to view itself negatively and be less motivated to work towards social change. I think that when asset-based community development is applicable, it is the best way to go about development. By focusing on the resources and capabilities of the community itself, the community will be more inspired to work towards change and progress. I also agree with the Amigos community-based initiative approach. Nobody knows a community better than those who are living in it; the community members are the people that know what changes they want to see in their community. An outsider has no place to go to a different place and tell them how to change. Long-lasting, sustainable changes must come from the community itself.

I think it’s important for volunteers and international service workers to see themselves as facilitators of change, not bringers of change. They must also be culturally sensitive and open-minded, as different cultures and societies operate in different ways. International development workers must be flexible because what works in one country may or may not work in another. A volunteer or international development worker has the important ability to empower community members to make changes and should focus on the assets and strengths of the community to create sustainable, positive changes.