Journey for Change is a service-learning trip that enables participants to experience first hand the issues, challenges, community, and culture of an African country. The service projects are aimed at creating opportunities for empowerment to make a sustainable investment in the future of children and youth. The trip is also intended to educate participants, attach personal relevance to their efforts and initiatives, and inspire action through spreading awareness and sharing their experiences following the trip.
Journey for Change is designed in a three part structure, which Future of Africa believes helps to maximize the potential for impactful service, meaningful reflection, and effective learning during the trip.
Part I: Acclimatization
The first phase of JFC allows participants to be introduced to African society and begin to orient themselves within their new surroundings. It also provides an opportunity for team development as teammates aid one another in negotiating their experiences, creating a system of mutual support within the JFC group. Part I of the trip enables participants to familiarize themselves with African culture, preparing them physically, mentally, and emotionally for the service intensive leg of the trip to follow.
Part II: Service and Community Integration
The second phase of JFC immerses participants into the community and culture of rural life in Africa. Constituting the majority of the trip, Parti II involves engaging with and learning from local community members and working on projects and social programs that have been identified based on the needs of the community.
Part II: Reflection and Wind Down
The third and final phase of JFC provides participants with the opportunity to relax, travel, and reflect. Although reflection activities will be integrated into the trip throughout, this portion of JFC encourages participants to contemplate how they have personally been impacted and how they will translate what they have learned back to their own lives. The wind down is intended to ease the transition back to Canadian society by allowing time for participants to reflect on their service and to consider how they will communicate their experiences to others following the trip.
