Each summer at the Clinton School, our students participate in blog and photo contests as they travel for their International Public Service Projects.
This year the students were asked to submit one photo and one blog post to be judged by faculty and staff. The winning photo (at right) was taken by Maggie Carroll who worked with Heifer International to document the impact of a hunger project on the empowerment of women and girls in Rajasthan, India. The photo shows members of the Bihar India Women’s Group documenting the changes they have seen in their lives since partnering with Heifer.
The winning blog post was submitted by Trish Flanagan who completed a community engagement project with Room to Read in Cambodia, Sri Lanka. In the post, Flanagan documents the welcome she received at a school she visited:
I grabbed my linen jacket, to establish some sort of decorum in my appearance while meeting the entire school, after our long road trip. With my camera, pen and notebook in hand we walked down to the school. We were instant royalty. Completely amazing. I was there to observe, like a fly on the wall ( as much as that would be possible). Yet, they had a ceremony for our arrival. The students were singing, some gave us handmade gifts and others anointed our foreheads. This was a Tamil community, descendants from Indian plantation laborers that migrated to Sri Lanka for work in the 1800’s. The little girls who would later do a traditional dance for us, had whimsical eye make-up, jewels in their hair and ears and bells on their ankles.
Once again, I am home.
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