Vinson Institute program coordinators Melinda Moore and Rachel Hagues have each received International Scholarship of Engagement Grants from the Office of the Vice President for Public Service and Outreach.
Working with Liberian officials to train social workers to help rebuild their country after years of civil war is the goal of the grant awarded to Moore. It will fund a new service learning project to be developed by the Vinson Institute and the University of Georgia's School of Social Work in cooperation with the University of Liberia.
Vinson Institute faculty visited Liberia in 2007 to explore collaborative training opportunities with university and government officials there, according to Moore. Liberia is undergoing post-conflict efforts after a period during which more than 270,000 people are estimated to have been killed and some 850,000 displaced from their homes. "Due to the government's need for highly skilled social workers, the University of Liberia is reaching out to scholars and institutions abroad to help them modernize and strengthen their curriculum," she says.
Vinson Institute faculty and staff and School of Social Work faculty and graduate students will first assist in the design of a new curriculum that addresses issues at the forefront of the country's social welfare system. The UGA team will then travel to Liberia to provide "train the trainer" workshops for the faculty there. "Our goal is to build a sustainable program that will allow both universities to have an ongoing exchange of knowledge and ideas," Moore says.
Providing a mechanism through which girls from the Ukerewe District of Tanzania and the Rocksprings Community of Athens, Georgia, can advance their education and overcome poverty is the goal of the International Scholarship of Engagement Grant awarded to Hagues. It will allow for the expansion of a service learning project being coordinated by the Vinson Institute, along with the university's Department of Drama and the College of Family and Consumer Sciences.
In connection with the already established Mongella-UGA Initiative coordinated by the African Studies Program, the grant team of faculty, staff, and graduate students will carry out a preliminary program in the Ukerewe district this summer that uses a special form of drama to teach girls ages 9-15 life skills, identity development, health decision making, and basic English. The same program will be provided to girls enrolled in summer programs at the Athens Housing Authority Rocksprings Community Center in Athens. A more comprehensive curriculum will then be developed. "We hope to involve women leaders in both instances so that these are not one-time efforts but programs that become sustainable and community-owned," Hagues says.
