Learning Through Service

Community, greater good, non extrinsic motives, no judgments, improving, not saving, and working towards a goal. These are all adjectives that students used when defining service. Our students have started volunteering at Dar Chebab. A local youth center that provides local youths opportunities to learn English through extracurricular activities. 

Monday afternoon they headed over to the youth center to discuss with local Moroccans about how to sustain the environment and helped plant trees. They were able to engage, listen and learn from different cultural perspectives.

 Today after their morning Darija class, our students spent two hours volunteering to either help tutor English or lead Arts and Craft projects. They were split into two groups and were able to work with students of all ages. Students engaged in painting activities, making origami, and practicing English conversational skills.

They then returned back to the study center to engage in conversation with Madiha about defining service and what service learning meant to them. They learned that sometimes service learning is not always that obvious. That sometimes it’s something simple as interacting with host families, engaging in dialogues with locals, and taking the time to learn the language and culture to break down cultural assumptions. 

Our students are excited to keep working with the youths at Dar Chebab during their last ten days here in Mohammedia.