Participant reflections on short-term international volunteering: Benefits, concerns, and perspective change

Author(s):  
Amanda R. Hiles Howard ◽  
Nicole Gilbertson Wilke ◽  
Megan Roberts ◽  
Jacqueline N. Gustafson

2016 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. e31-36
Author(s):  
Seemi Qaiser ◽  
Helen Dimaras ◽  
Paul Hamel

Despite literature documenting limited and asymmetrical benefits along with ethical issues, short-term international volunteering is increasingly popular among North American university students as a perceived advantage when applying to professional healthcare schools or the job market. Academic institutions are also encouraging students to pursue international experiences in order to cultivate values as global citizens. These experiences are most typically limited to economically privileged students. Furthermore, international activities in developing countries often lack a pedagogy of social justice and may confirm a simplistic understanding of development. Brazilian educator Paulo Freire’s “liberation pedagogy” provides a framework for understanding the limitations of international volunteering, whereby the presence of privileged volunteers implementing Western models of development may hinder aspects of local movements. Regardless, university students face intense competition in accessing opportunities, such as medical school, and pay large sums to participate in volunteering to strengthen their academic credentials. We propose that these students form “the voluntariat.” They simultaneously play two roles by, first, contributing to the conditions that oppress the very communities in which they volunteer and, second, by playing a role as objects of oppression by the liberal institutions of learning and employment to which they are attempting to gain access.



2016 ◽  
Vol 8 (5) ◽  
pp. 310-312 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bethina Loiseau ◽  
Darren Benedict ◽  
Rebekah Sibbald ◽  
Salem A. Raman ◽  
Lawrence C. Loh ◽  
...  


Author(s):  
Manoj Kumar

The current study is an attempt to clarify the nomological net of corporate green marketing and also an attempt to highlight and remedy some inherent dilemmas and myopic approaches in the green marketing debate. Briefly, in this study the green marketing concept has been defined and analyzed in an evolutionary manner. Within the sustainability framework, previous approaches to green marketing motivators, which is consumer-centric to an extensive degree, are no longer useful. Thus, this problem has been tried to be remedied by showing that demand is a changing variable and it influences green marketing at the tactical level due to its short-term nature. Although a proposed model has been explained, all variables need to be studied much further and the unique contribution of this study is reflecting the perspective change incorporating strategic and tactical levels and the insights this perspective can provide to businesses and practitioners about why they should be going green.



SURG Journal ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Angela Doreen Gushue

This research study provides a new model to evaluate early childhood development internationally by integrating perspectives from the disciplines of International Development and Early Childhood Care and Education. This new model, The Geographic Context Education Development Matrix, was developed through this piece of research and will assist in providing a deeper understanding of the intersectionality of these disciplines as they relate to early childhood development. This model helps to illustrate the scholarly gap in understanding the local perspectives of international development, specifically through short-term international volunteering in Dharamshala, India. Data was collected through an experiential learning project where the primary investigator volunteered for one month in a private school in Dharamshala. Following this participatory experience, qualitative semi-structured interviews were conducted with local teachers and parents. The purpose of this research was to ascertain the current effectiveness of international interventions in Early Childhood Care and Education, especially through international volunteers, in Dharamshala, India and provide insight into the barriers impeding sustainable Early Childhood Care and Education. Through the analysis of the data collected, it was evident that the practice of short-term international volunteering is not effective in supporting Early Childhood Care and Education in Dharamshala. Short term volunteers are not an effective intervention because they cannot address the most significant barriers faced by local educators, their support is generally unreliable, and their presence can, and often does, perpetrate neocolonial tendencies. 



2016 ◽  
Vol 39 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mary C. Potter

AbstractRapid serial visual presentation (RSVP) of words or pictured scenes provides evidence for a large-capacity conceptual short-term memory (CSTM) that momentarily provides rich associated material from long-term memory, permitting rapid chunking (Potter 1993; 2009; 2012). In perception of scenes as well as language comprehension, we make use of knowledge that briefly exceeds the supposed limits of working memory.



Author(s):  
M. O. Magnusson ◽  
D. G. Osborne ◽  
T. Shimoji ◽  
W. S. Kiser ◽  
W. A. Hawk

Short term experimental and clinical preservation of kidneys is presently best accomplished by hypothermic continuous pulsatile perfusion with cryoprecipitated and millipore filtered plasma. This study was undertaken to observe ultrastructural changes occurring during 24-hour preservation using the above mentioned method.A kidney was removed through a midline incision from healthy mongrel dogs under pentobarbital anesthesia. The kidneys were flushed immediately after removal with chilled electrolyte solution and placed on a LI-400 preservation system and perfused at 8-10°C. Serial kidney biopsies were obtained at 0-½-1-2-4-8-16 and 24 hours of preservation. All biopsies were prepared for electron microscopy. At the end of the preservation period the kidneys were autografted.



Author(s):  
D.N. Collins ◽  
J.N. Turner ◽  
K.O. Brosch ◽  
R.F. Seegal

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are a ubiquitous class of environmental pollutants with toxic and hepatocellular effects, including accumulation of fat, proliferated smooth endoplasmic recticulum (SER), and concentric membrane arrays (CMAs) (1-3). The CMAs appear to be a membrane storage and degeneration organelle composed of a large number of concentric membrane layers usually surrounding one or more lipid droplets often with internalized membrane fragments (3). The present study documents liver alteration after a short term single dose exposure to PCBs with high chlorine content, and correlates them with reported animal weights and central nervous system (CNS) measures. In the brain PCB congeners were concentrated in particular regions (4) while catecholamine concentrations were decreased (4-6). Urinary levels of homovanillic acid a dopamine metabolite were evaluated (7).Wistar rats were gavaged with corn oil (6 controls), or with a 1:1 mixture of Aroclor 1254 and 1260 in corn oil at 500 or 1000 mg total PCB/kg (6 at each level).



Author(s):  
S.S. Poolsawat ◽  
C.A. Huerta ◽  
S.TY. Lae ◽  
G.A. Miranda

Introduction. Experimental induction of altered histology by chemical toxins is of particular importance if its outcome resembles histopathological phenomena. Hepatotoxic drugs and chemicals are agents that can be converted by the liver into various metabolites which consequently evoke toxic responses. Very often, these drugs are intentionally administered to resolve an illness unrelated to liver function. Because of hepatic detoxification, the resulting metabolites are suggested to be integrated into the macromolecular processes of liver function and cause an array of cellular and tissue alterations, such as increased cytoplasmic lysis, centrilobular and localized necroses, chronic inflammation and “foam cell” proliferation of the hepatic sinusoids (1-4).Most experimentally drug-induced toxicity studies have concentrated primarily on the hepatic response, frequently overlooking other physiological phenomena which are directly related to liver function. Categorically, many studies have been short-term effect investigations which seldom have followed up the complications to other tissues and organs when the liver has failed to function normally.



Author(s):  
D.E. Loudy ◽  
J. Sprinkle-Cavallo ◽  
J.T. Yarrington ◽  
F.Y. Thompson ◽  
J.P. Gibson

Previous short term toxicological studies of one to two weeks duration have demonstrated that MDL 19,660 (5-(4-chlorophenyl)-2,4-dihydro-2,4-dimethyl-3Hl, 2,4-triazole-3-thione), an antidepressant drug, causes a dose-related thrombocytopenia in dogs. Platelet counts started to decline after two days of dosing with 30 mg/kg/day and continued to decrease to their lowest levels by 5-7 days. The loss in platelets was primarily of the small discoid subpopulation. In vitro studies have also indicated that MDL 19,660: does not spontaneously aggregate canine platelets and has moderate antiaggregating properties by inhibiting ADP-induced aggregation. The objectives of the present investigation of MDL 19,660 were to evaluate ultrastructurally long term effects on platelet internal architecture and changes in subpopulations of platelets and megakaryocytes.Nine male and nine female beagle dogs were divided equally into three groups and were administered orally 0, 15, or 30 mg/kg/day of MDL 19,660 for three months. Compared to a control platelet range of 353,000- 452,000/μl, a doserelated thrombocytopenia reached a maximum severity of an average of 135,000/μl for the 15 mg/kg/day dogs after two weeks and 81,000/μl for the 30 mg/kg/day dogs after one week.



2008 ◽  
Vol 45 ◽  
pp. 147-160 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jörg Schaber ◽  
Edda Klipp

Volume is a highly regulated property of cells, because it critically affects intracellular concentration. In the present chapter, we focus on the short-term volume regulation in yeast as a consequence of a shift in extracellular osmotic conditions. We review a basic thermodynamic framework to model volume and solute flows. In addition, we try to select a model for turgor, which is an important hydrodynamic property, especially in walled cells. Finally, we demonstrate the validity of the presented approach by fitting the dynamic model to a time course of volume change upon osmotic shock in yeast.



Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document