2022 Munich Migration and Integration Service-Learning Study-Abroad

      Getting into the hang of things with our NGO’s (Non-Governmental Organizations). Though each group is doing something a little different we are learning more and more about the integration and immigration here in the beautiful Country, Germany. Today, I was able to work with a wonderful individual from the  Caritas Fürstenfeldbruck organization. I was able to sit in on all of her consultations she had for the day helping assist refugees with the help that was needed and this ranges from minor inconveniences to major ones.  It is amazing yet heartbreaking to hear these refugees stories, this experience in learning and seeing first hand what these individuals go through and do in order to make a better life, makes me appreciate how strong these refugees are in order to want a better life and the courage it takes to have to leave their country for various reasons. The work that is being done by Caritas Fürstenfeldbruck is very difficult, and seeing the proces...

  After flight cancellations and (still) re-routed luggage, we are here!! and this is how the rest of our first week will look like. Please follow us and the amazing group of NMSU’s Department of Government students, participating in this service-learning study-abroad about migration, global mobility, and integration in Germany. 6/30 Thursday:   Morning   Students work with their assigned groups/agencies; Evening: Free 7/1 Friday: Morning Students work with their assigned groups/agencies; 5 pm – 6:30 pm: 1 st Migration-Integration Workshop: Civil Society, Volunteerism, and Migration - Comparative Experiences in Germany and the U.S . Exchange with faculty and students of Hochschule M ü nchen, 81243 München , Am Stadtpark 20 ; Frau Prof. Dr. Ute Kötter (Law and Social Work) und Frau Prof. Dr. Gabriele Fischer (Applied Social Sciences in Gender, Migration and Diversity Studies).     7/2 Saturday: ‘Europe’s Political Legacies’ – 9 am NS Docu Center , Ma...

How does one make the decision to leave behind all they have, all they have ever known, and all they hold dear to begin again in a country that is not their own, in a culture that is unfamiliar, and integrate into a society that in many cases does not want them?   In my efforts to study and understand migration patterns and refugee efforts, I have sought most to determine the reasons it becomes necessary for one to make such an unbelievably difficult decision. Throughout the course of history, people have left their homes to seek a better life elsewhere in cases of war, famine, natural disaster, violence, or persecution. For those of us who have not experienced such a crisis, the thought of leaving behind all we know to face uncertainty is unimaginable. During this study abroad, some of us have had a limited experience of arriving alone in a country where we do not read, write or speak the language and navigate cities that at times do not feel the most welcoming.  We have had ...

Service-Learning in München! And here we are - again! Please follow us - and this blog - as we embark yet again (after an unexpected, three-year COVID hiatus) to learn more about migration, global mobility, integration, including the right to have rights in the context of Munich.  Who are we?  Please check out "We about Us" to find out more about the amazing group of New Mexico State University students.  Where are we - "from"....  We are a mixed, eclectic bunch of super-fun people  - undergraduate and graduate students and their faculty advisor from New Mexico State University (NMSU), Las Cruces. NMSU is located in the southwest U.S. borderland, where red earth, tough mountains and splendid deserts reign. And where the complexity of immigration, borders, and bordering - and their heartaches - are an everyday reality for most of our students and  faculty. Why this blog?  A blog seems an easy-enough, user-friendly vehicle of communication to take y...