| HOPE Youth Corps - Summer 2008 | | Print | |
| By Brian Martinez | |
| November 21, 2007 | |
 Non-profit service group HOPE worldwide
is accepting applications for its HOPE Youth Corps 2008. The summer
volunteer program is a service-learning opportunity for high school and
university students focusing on leadership training and community
service throughout the world. It brings students from all different
backgrounds together to work with HOPE worldwide programs across the
globe, serving the world's poor. Participants work with the
underserved, face challenges that take them to new levels of commitment
and build life-long relationships with strong peers. The HYC volunteers
radically deepen their compassion and gain a profound appreciation for
what they have been given in their own lives.
 HYC
volunteers at the international sites have bandaged the wounds of
leprosy patients, performed street plays about HIV/AIDS and
Tuberculosis, cared for children dying of AIDS, loved abandoned
children, cleaned and repaired orphanages and clinics, donated blood,
distributed food and clothing, assisted medical personnel, taught
English and encouraged the elderly, the sick and the lonely. In recent years, HYC volunteers at U.S. sites have worked with under served children acting as mentors in camp settings, taking children out of their inner city surroundings to rural natural environments. These community service projects teach the children that out of the little they have they can still have pride and give back to the communities they live in. U.S. participants have also become peer educators who teach youth to make healthy lifestyle choices by abstaining from risky behaviors such as drugs, alcohol and pre-marital sex. The HOPE Youth Corps not only provides activities and programs designed to bring hope in the lives of impoverished and disadvantaged children, but it also builds the character of the secondary and university students who participate. Through sacrifice, self-denial, and hard work these young men and women learn first-hand to overcome the obstacles of life. In 2008, HYC participants will serve in: Philadelphia, Baltimore, Seattle, New Orleans, Cambodia, Jamaica, Indonesia and Mexico. Visit www.hopeww.org to learn more about the program and begin the application process. |
