Amizade opens global doors with Fellowship

Current West Virginia University students and recent graduates have the opportunity to gain experience in professional development while creating a lasting impact across the globe.

Amizade, an 18-year-old nonprofit organization that strives to connect individuals in a community through world-wide service-learning, is now offering a new Fellowship Program for WVU students.

"This will be our first year offering the Fellows program, so this will be our pilot group. This is a great way to give students professional development experience," said Amizade Director of Outreach Sarah Noel. "A lot of students in college will get an internship. This is a step up to an internship."

Noel said the program will allow students to travel to D.C. to learn from leaders in the nonprofit and professional development fields.

Then, throughout the semester, students in the program will host seminars and workshops for others, and in the spring they will put their planning to the test as they lead a service-learning program in another country.

"This is really a great way for students to learn how to work in the professional development field, do the work and then practice by putting their skills to the test," Noel said. "This is really a unique and special opportunity. They are directly applying what they’ve learned to a project that has a concrete end point."

Noel said the Fellows program would strive for a "Fair Trade Learning"experience.

"We send students from America and North America all around the world. They get experience, get to learn about themselves and have a life-transforming opportunity," she said. "With Fair Trade Learning, we ensure our students are giving something to others that will create a lasting impact. It’s taking that idea to the next level."

Natalie Committee, WVU Amizade Service-Learning Coordinator, said she encourages WVU students to apply for the program because of its uniqueness.

"There is truly no other experience like it on campus," she said. "We have a lot of exciting opportunities for students here at WVU."

Amizade recently earned a Special Consultative Status with the United Nations, Committee said. Amizade is now one of just 3,600 organizations across the globe to hold the status since its establishment in 1946.

Committee said Amizade would offer a winter break program in Jamaica and spring break programs in Tanzania and Bolivia.

For more information on Amizade, visit http://amizade.org. To learn more about the Fellowship Program, contact (fellows@amizade.org,) or call 412-586-4986.