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"My [volunteer] experience has helped me in so many ways to have a more complete understanding of Italy. It's a great place to practice my Italian and expand my vocabulary. I've also learned some very interesting (and I think employable) skills working with children and understanding how they learn best. Most importantly, I've gained some fascinating insights about Italian culture and personal interactions which are strikingly different than the ones I'm familiar with."
- Cosmo, Lewis and Clark College
Service-learning in Italy provides the opportunity to experience social service in a country whose complicated political, economic, and social realities rarely permit the foreigner access to become an active part of society. You will serve 15-20 hours per week in an established Italian school or social agency, choosing to focus on one of three social service areas: education, healthcare, or immigrant and refugee assistance.
Education
You may choose to concentrate on one of the many aspects of the education field. Whether teaching in an elementary school classroom, helping underprivileged children with their homework, or teaching English to adults in the evenings, you will be able to share your knowledge and skills while providing a beneficial service to the community.
Students serving in education will have constant contact with an instructor specialized not only in teaching languages, but also in pedagogical and educational processes. You will be followed throughout the experience by educational experts in order to provide the broadest possible panorama of the following topics: the means and ends of the educational process, the Italian educational system in this delicate moment of severe reform and transition, the behavior and role of the teacher, the new methods of language learning with regards to media use, and the relationship between disability and education. With the glotto-didactic experts, you will explore a variety of techniques and approaches to language instruction and will be guided through the fascinating mechanisms of the human mind that regulate the learning of language. This project gives students the unique opportunity to have a double function as student and teacher, learning while teaching in the field.
Healthcare
Studying first from a theoretical point of view, you will examine the recent developments of Italian healthcare services, both social and medical. This project encompasses various aspects of the Italian healthcare system and is made possible by the collaboration with several non-profit organizations in Siena. You will work alongside experts and will acquire in-depth knowledge of some of the key organizations within the Italian healthcare system.
Immigrant and Refugee Assistance
You may participate in one of the many social service projects initiated by various volunteer associations, addressing the needs of immigrants, refugees, and other underserved persons. The Associations' current activities include city food bank, clothing drive, soup kitchen, community projects for children, literacy projects, and the Villore Project. Located in a rural hamlet, Villore offers refuge to marginalized and underserved urban populations and engages in sustainable agriculture through an organic farm.
Following are examples of agencies where IPSL students have served in the past or may be able to serve. Other service placements may be available. Your placement will be determined primarily by community and agency needs, as well as your interests, goals, and skills (including Italian language ability).
The Associazione Le Bollicine is an organization that provides various forms of physical therapy to children and adults with disabilities. Students work at the organization’s newly constructed stables and helping with riding therapy, “ippoterapia”. Responsibilities will vary, as Le Bollicine is a very hands-on organization. Students with previous riding experience may be asked to work solely with preparing the horses, while others will do any number of odd jobs on the grounds. The therapy sessions are individual, so there is always a need for volunteers to sit and talk with the people who are waiting to go in. In addition, students may be asked to help with the maintenance and structural improvements to the center as well as administrative support.
Population Served: Children with disabilities
Areas of Service:
Disabilities
/
Children & Youth
/
Administration
/
Construction
An organization in Siena dedicated to helping immigrants find work, learn Italian, find healthcare, and other needs. Students can volunteer in the office offering administrative support as well as work directly with immigrants in need. Activities include Internet research, translations, accompanying people to offices, coordinating interviews, setting up appointments, etc.
Population Served: Immigrants
Areas of Service:
Immigrant/refugee issues & aid
/
Social services
/
Healthcare
/
Administration
/
Research
Located just a short walk south of the Piazza del Campo, La Caritas is a Roman Catholic organization dedicated to helping those in need. Though all are welcome to their services, their soup kitchen and used clothing distribution center primarily serve Siena’s immigrant population. Everyone from immigrants from Romania to refugees from Sudan enjoy the warm meals at the church’s daily lunch as well as the services provided by their clothing bank, which distributes local donations varying from books to bed dressings, as well as providing free shower supplies and access to their shower facility.
On a weekly basis, a combined total of over 300 immigrants make use of the resources provided by both the soup kitchen and clothing distribution center. The 90 religious sisters who live on the premises, as well as volunteers ranging from college students to Siena natives, help prepare and serve the daily meals as well as collect, organize, and distribute clothing. La Caritas also functions as a dormitory for women, children, and elderly in need of care and lodging.
Population Served: Primarily immigrants in the city of Siena
Areas of Service:
Food services/distribution
/
Immigrant/refugee issues & aid
One of the areas in need is the public school system of Siena. Due to recent severe reforms resulting in significant budget cuts and a reduction of educational resources, there is an increasing demand for skilled and enthusiastic volunteer figures within the school system. Through this experience, students have an opportunity to utilize their skills and energy to make a positive impact on the Sienese public school system. Students who decide to work in an elementary school classroom will be paired with an elementary school teacher who will offer suggestions and advice on how to operate within the classroom. Another possibility within the elementary school (given the appropriate circumstances) is to take on the role of intercultural mediator for foreign children. We view this project as an opportunity to enter into one of the most significant facets of Italian society, therefore gaining a more profound understanding of society as a whole.
Population Served: Public school children
Areas of Service:
Education
/
ESL
/
Teaching/tutoring
The Arciconfraternità della Misericordia di Siena is an association dating back to the Middle Ages that is dedicated to volunteer medical assistance and community service. Students who work with this organization can choose to focus their energies on a variety of medical realities. They will work alongside medical volunteers in an ambulance providing assistance in transporting patients to and from the hospital, and will be trained in the various levels of emergency medical assistance through courses offered by the Misericordia: basic and advanced levels of emergency medical assistance and a specialized course for on-call residential service. Working with the Misericordia, students will get to know personally medical and paramedical personnel of every level and be offered a detailed picture of the Italian healthcare system. In the interests of cultural exchange, students will also be encouraged to organize English language workshops for fellow volunteers, as English is very useful in a popular tourist destination such as Siena. Please note that this placement has a minimum of a two-month stay.
Population Served: People in need of emergency care, emergency medical personnel
Areas of Service:
Healthcare
/
ESL
