2008 Woodie Awards
Pilots give preview of DukeEngage projects
By: Naureen Khan
Issue date: 8/29/07 Section: News
Last update: 8/29/07 at 7:22 AM EST
Last update: 8/29/07 at 7:22 AM EST
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Sophomore John Stokes independently secured an internship at La Fundación Huésped, a non-profit organization dealing with HIV and AIDS in Argentina, and was subsequently able to get funding from DukeEngage.
"It really was a full-fledged internship in Buenos Aires and I was doing all this work in a different language," said Stokes, who helped developed a guide for prevention and treatment. "I could actually see the results of what I was doing... and I felt like a valuable asset to the organization."
Despite the positive reviews from students, Mlyn said there is work to be done before the program can fully launch in the summer of next year.
"We face a host of challenges but nothing unanticipated," Mlyn said. "DukeEngage is not just a grant-it's a program. We are trying to build scaffolding around the DukeEngage program so we're able to maximize the experience."
Mlyn said the pilot experienced problems preparing students who had not been abroad or involved in service-learning because of the short time frame from DukeEngage's announcement in February.
The Duke Center for Civic Engagement, created as part of the DukeEngage initiative to coordinate civic-engagement and service-learning projects across the University, is currently working on programming that will best help to prepare students for their immersive service-learning projects and enhance participants' experiences by continued work in the field.
Officials have not yet decided how to structure the proposal for next year's DukeEngage projects, which Mlyn said he hopes will include more students.
Many participants, nevertheless, cited working for a worthy cause with like-minded individuals as the essential and most rewarding aspect of the program.
"The best part of the experience was being part of the greater rebuiliding effort at large," Heffernan said. "To have been a part of it... the enthusiasm, the optimism, the energy was inspiring."
"It really was a full-fledged internship in Buenos Aires and I was doing all this work in a different language," said Stokes, who helped developed a guide for prevention and treatment. "I could actually see the results of what I was doing... and I felt like a valuable asset to the organization."
Despite the positive reviews from students, Mlyn said there is work to be done before the program can fully launch in the summer of next year.
"We face a host of challenges but nothing unanticipated," Mlyn said. "DukeEngage is not just a grant-it's a program. We are trying to build scaffolding around the DukeEngage program so we're able to maximize the experience."
Mlyn said the pilot experienced problems preparing students who had not been abroad or involved in service-learning because of the short time frame from DukeEngage's announcement in February.
The Duke Center for Civic Engagement, created as part of the DukeEngage initiative to coordinate civic-engagement and service-learning projects across the University, is currently working on programming that will best help to prepare students for their immersive service-learning projects and enhance participants' experiences by continued work in the field.
Officials have not yet decided how to structure the proposal for next year's DukeEngage projects, which Mlyn said he hopes will include more students.
Many participants, nevertheless, cited working for a worthy cause with like-minded individuals as the essential and most rewarding aspect of the program.
"The best part of the experience was being part of the greater rebuiliding effort at large," Heffernan said. "To have been a part of it... the enthusiasm, the optimism, the energy was inspiring."
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