Monday, September 21, 2009
Social work student? Apply now for spring break Jamaica trip
Megan Halstead with children at a Jamaican orphanage on the 2009 Global Social Work trip.
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Betty Vawter Senior Editor, News & Information Services 812/480-1873 Megan Halstead, a graduate student in the social work program, was one of 11 students on the Global Social Work trip during spring break 2009. The group visited two boys' homes and a home for children five and under. Halstead completed an individual assessment on a child at one of the boys' homes and helped present group sessions on topics such as aggression, stealing, and destructiveness. "All the boys had there been in some type of legal trouble," she said. "Most of them had anger management problems. Jamaica is a poor country, so their children don't have the chance that ours do. There's not much rehabilitation or counseling. It was something to see what few resources they have and realize what we have in America." After five nights in Mandeville, the group departed for a day and night of relaxation in Montego Bay. Bargaining for local crafts, seeing the Rastafarian influence, and traveling by van without seat belts on narrow, curvy roads added to the cultural experience. Turner-Frey said, "I go with the idea that I want the students to learn about the world. In one week's time we can't possibly even begin to change the lives of these children. My primary goal is to help our students. "I want them to gain an appreciation for the privileges we have in the United States. I want them to get out of their comfort zone and to be out of place. Very often this is the first time any of them have been a minority. That is a good experience. I want them to gain some life experience and appreciation for cultural diversity." This trip is open to both graduate and undergraduate students, sophomore and above, who have completed SOCW 221: Introduction to Social Work. Undergraduate students enroll in SOCW 392: Global Social Work, a three credit hour elective social work course that meets the University's Core Curriculum requirements for Global Communities. Graduate students enroll in SOCW 699: Independent Study, with the option of enrolling in one, two, or three credit hours. Halstead was the first recipient of the Turner-Frey Global Social Work Award, a scholarship Turner-Frey and her husband Leonard Frey established to benefit a student participating in the trip. More information about the scholarship is available at the link below. The next Global Social Work trip is March 7-12, 2010. Turner-Frey is accepting applications through November 1. To download the application and brochure, or to learn more about the trip, go to www.usi.edu/socialwork/global.asp or contact Turner-Frey at 812/465-1201 or wturner@usi.edu. |
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