Opportunity knocks to \give back while traveling"" for UW-Madison students.
Representatives from the headquarters of the International Student Volunteers will be visiting UW-Madison Thursday to recruit students for volunteer opportunities overseas.
""We want their experience to be more than just a travel abroad program,"" said ISV's National Recruitment Coordinator Kara Felzein. ""They are giving back to the community or the ecosystem to which they travel.""
The month-long program entails two segments. The first two weeks involve volunteering in conjunction with a local conservation program or community development program.
The second two weeks provide an opportunity for students to travel to seven or eight different locations around the world to learn about those places, their cultural environmental problems and cultural concerns to supplement work they do, Flezein said.
""You experience so much in a month, you leave really feeling like you know the country,"" she said. ""You take away a personal ownership for what you've done.""
""[The trips] gave me a chance to see culture at an unique level instead of seeing it from the outside as a tourist,"" UW-Madison senior Brynna Larsen said.
As co-president of the UW-Madison chapter, Larsen said the club brings the ISV's concept of volunteerism back to a local level.
""We take people who want to be involved in volunteering and give them that outlet in the Madison area with a connection to the global aspect,"" she said.
The international projects include travels to such exotic areas as Australia, New Zealand, Costa Rica and the Dominican Republic.
""All our projects vary so much from country to country, but it's easy for students to find a niche to pick out a project that really suits them and one they'll enjoy,"" Felzein said.
According to UW-Madison junior and ISV co-president Patrick Schuette, the Madison chapter partners up with local organizations such as Habitat for Humanity, Salvation Army and an after-school program, Wexford Ridge, to better the community.
The international projects push students out of their comfort zones and allow them to see the world with a different set of eyes, he said.
""Go beyond what you usually do and go out and experience the world and see what it has to offer you. And see what you have to offer it, too.\
