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For three weeks in June, students and faculty from three countries piloted a new three-tier model of international exchanges and put into practice the notion of “glocal citizenship” being developed by GSF President, Dr. Chris Harth. 

Dr. Harth traveled to Rwanda with students from St. Andrew’s Episcopal School in Mississippi, where he serves as Director of Global Studies and World Languages, and with students and faculty from Carnoustie High School in Scotland.  While in Rwanda the twenty-person team collaborated with several local partners, including Solace Ministries and Comfort Rwanda, who work with widows and orphans.  The team also spent several days at Rukumberi Secondary School, engaging in a collaborative cultural exchange, with students and faculty from all three countries sharing information about themselves and participating in a range of interactive academic, artistic, and athletic activities.  While at Rukumberi, Dr. Harth also presented the idea of nested identities and communities, noting that while each of us lives in different local, national, and regional contexts, we all share the same planet, which makes us neighbors and which has important ethical and educational implications.

As the third leg of a new three-tier exchange program designed by Dr. Harth, the service-learning trip to Rwanda follows two earlier legs providing a month of “glocal” learning and serving opportunities: (1) two weeks with the Scottish team visiting Mississippi and performing educational service at schools in Jackson and the Mississippi Delta; and (2) two weeks with the Mississippi team visiting Scotland and working both on the Rwanda leg and on local environmental projects.   

More details about these three legs and this new model for international exchanges and glocal service learning, including feedback from the participants, will be made available in the coming months.  For more information in the meantime, please submit our online information form or contact us directly.