LEWISTON – A L-A College learning course will provide students the opportunity to study, experience and contribute to the welfare of children in another culture through an 18-day trip. Through a combination of classroom and experiential learning, the course will promote understanding of the social circumstances and the development challenges faced by orphaned children in China.

Students will engage in a service project in collaboration with a program that provides education and enrichment to children in an orphanage. The goals of the course are to provide students an opportunity to develop intercultural understanding to deepen their comprehension of children’s developmental needs and to examine international adoption practices.

The course is designed with Lewiston-Auburn College’s social and behavioral science students, masters in occupational therapy and MOT jump start students in mind.

Three faculty members and 18 students will depart on Wednesday, May 17, for the 18-day journey. Faculty members include Rose Cleary, Ph.D, and Deb Como-Kepler, Ph.D. Both are experienced teachers and clinicians who are also adoptive mothers of Chine daughters. Roxy Black, a pediatric occupational specialist, will also be on the trip. She is a tenured professor and the head of the graduate occupational therapy program.

The group will conduct fundraisers at the college, and donations for the orphanages will be accepted. Checks should be made out to Deb Como-Kepler and sent to 6 Cumberland St., Brunswick, ME 04011 (note on the check China Program).

Copy the Story Link