"As a team 0f youth and young adults, we have committed to providing an opportunity for nine local high school youth (in Riverside, CA) to travel to India for a two-week trip with the goal of creating international dialogue that surpasses borders. Working in collaboration with CLP mentors and staff, the students will embark on programs examining key social issues, including social justice, immigration, public health, conflict resolution, and various others that exist locally and globally. At the end, the hope is that both the U.S. students and Indian students realize that they have much more in common that they previously believed, which will assist them in the process of discovering and becoming their sense of “self.” In India, they will take trips to historical and religious sites, study Tamil, serve with CLP partners in projects with CLP youth and young adults, and share their experiences as youth activists living in southern California.
Overall, there are not many models that currently exist whose goals are to provide an exchange experience for youth coming from a low-income high schools. The youth and young adult CLP team have all committed to fundraising for expenses (including airfare and food/transportation/housing costs in India) in order to ensure that the youth are able to enjoy the experiences of studying abroad without experiencing additional financial burdens.We are extremely thankful to be attending CGI U and look forward to meeting everyone!"
CLP will also be highlighted at the MTVu Dean's List-- an opportunity in which CLP mentors will be interviewed about their committment to action alongside a music video that best represents their project. The video the intern team selected is Ben Harper's "My Own Two Hands," below:
