Frequently Asked Questions
Travelling to Asia brings subjects to life in a way that learning from textbooks can’t. Through hands-on activities and direct interactions with local people, your students will develop a deeper understanding of the cultures and phenomena they’re studying. They’ll see firsthand the impacts of political, environmental and development issues. And along the way, they’ll be driven to reflect on their own lives as they step outside their cultural comfort zone.
Our school trips are based on a model of mutual learning that’s grounded in immersive cross-cultural exchange. We use local expertise to create comprehensive, activity-rich programs, and tailor each trip to your school’s goals. In designing your trip, we follow community development principles that foster learning through teamwork, cooperation and friendship with local communities.
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Yes! Community service projects offer students the chance to collaborate with people they couldn’t otherwise meet. On your trip, students might assist with building a house, installing irrigation, or helping local students with English or mathematics. Each project is unique, meaningful and highly participatory. Students are required to take on the same tasks as the local people, students and families they’re working with. In countries where community service projects are less common, like Japan, we offer authentic interaction with local schools, sporting clubs and businesses instead.
For students, a community service project can launch a life-long process of understanding complex poverty and development issues. By connecting with the local environment and people through a community service project, students awaken their responsibilities as global citizens. And by working alongside others, they build their capacity to become culturally agile adults.
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Our community service projects are devised in consultation with local communities, NGOs and village governance groups, such as women’s committees. We develop every project through partnerships founded in trust and understanding and built over several years. Our community-led approach ensures each community service project is carefully prepared, inclusive and non-exploitative. Each project offers tangible, sustainable benefits to both students and local communities.
When it comes to meaningful community service projects, we don’t come into a small community in matching t-shirts to paint a mural on the wall of a local school. As well intentioned as this kind of activity might be, such projects are of little real benefit to local communities or students. Activities like these can be tokenistic, ‘feel good’ programs – and frankly, things local communities could more easily, and more affordably, undertake themselves.
If you have a question we haven’t answered, please get in touch.