In response to the growing demand for service learning programs, the ACI team drew on its extensive network of contacts, to develop community based internship programs.

In the first program for Saint Lawrence University in January 2008 around the town of Sangalkam outside of Rufisque, ACI developed partnerships with several local Senegalese organizations to provide students with enriching internship experiences. These incuded the Principal Hospital, the local primary and preschools, the Turtle Village and SOS Environment, an NGO specializing in environmental issues related to global warming.

Later in the year (May-June, 2008), Mercer University students spent two weeks with rural host families in the town of iRoss Bethio outside of St. Louis. They worked with four local organizations, helping in the fields, organizing their libraries, teaching English and developing websites and brochures with the associaitons for better public relations.

These service-minded programs help meet ACI’s goal of encouraging global citizenship and helping Americans to build collaborative relationships with people in the developing world. Other service learning programs are currently in the design stages.