Kansas State University

MANHATTAN -- Kansas State University's International Service Teams will head to Kenya, Mexico, South Africa and Uganda this summer.

Offered through the School of Leadership Studies, the interdisciplinary teams of university students work with international partners to plan and implement service projects during an eight- to 10-week stay in another country. Service team members gain leadership experience and develop an appreciation for unique cultures and perspectives during their service.

Team Fikira who will be traveling to Nyeri, Kenya, to live and work at the Children and Youth Empowerment Centre. The center works with street-dwelling young people in Kenya, seeking holistic and sustainable solutions. The team will serve for almost nine weeks this summer, working on a leadership development program and working with the youth on financial literacy.

Team Paz and Team Ubunto will both go to Oceanview, South Africa. The teams will work with Volunteer Mzansi Afrika, which matches volunteers with local organizations, schools and business. The teams will live in homestays and are awaiting their placements in the community. They will be in South Africa for eight weeks.

Team Sonrisa will live in homestays in the highly migratory community of La Preciosita, Mexico. The main objective of the team will be building strong relationships with the families they live with and to understand how immigration regulations in the U.S. affect families in La Preciosita and the rest of the country. The team will also teach English to all ages in the community and create a sustainability-centered project. The team will be in Mexico for 10 weeks.

The Uganda Research team will spend half of its summer doing qualitative research about the effects of Joseph Kony and the Lord's Resistance Army, a guerrilla group that used to operate in Uganda. The other half of the summer will be spent serving in an orphanage called M-lisada. The group will be in Uganda for six weeks.

Students serving on the International Service Teams and their destination include:

Rachel McAdam, senior in psychology, Cunningham, Team Sonrisa in Mexico.

From Greater Kansas City: Lindsay Albracht, sophomore in family studies and human services, Team Ubuntu in South Africa, and Taran Carlisle, junior in kinesiology, Team Fikira in Kenya, both from Kansas City, Kan.; Tricia Brensing, senior in communication sciences and disorders, Lenexa, Team Paz in South Africa; Kelsey Ritz, sophomore in social work, Overland Park, Team Fikira in Kenya; and Carolyn Gatewood, senior in secondary education-English, Shawnee, Team Ubuntu in South Africa.

Kaitlyn Rippel, sophomore in arts and sciences-open option, Maize, Team Paz in South Africa; Corinne Christopherson, senior in life sciences, and Grant Kohlmeier, junior in history, both from Manhattan and both with the Uganda Research team; Stephanie Wilson, senior in public health nutrition, Mulvane, Team Ubuntu in South Africa; Chase Fortune, junior in pre-journalism and mass communications, Newton, Uganda Research team; Ronnie Sullivan, freshman in agribusiness, Paola, Team Sonrisa in Mexico; Stevie St. Clair, junior in family studies and human services, Portis, Team Fikira in Kenya; Maggie Burger, senior in anthropology, Summerfield, Uganda Research team; Lindsy Liggett, senior in communication studies, Tescott, Team Ubuntu  in South Africa.

From Topeka: Kaitlyn Burton, junior in accounting, Team Paz in South Africa; Anna Clary, senior in horticulture, Uganda Research team; and Sydney Webb, freshman in pre-psychology, Team Paz in South Africa.

From Missouri: Teryn Greer, junior in family studies and humans services, Nevada, Team Fikira in Kenya; Emily Stolfus, sophomore in pre-professional elementary, St. Joseph, Team Sonrisa in Mexico; and Danielle Crossland, senior in social work, St. Louis, Uganda Research team.