University of Western Ontario students and faculty members hit the road – or the skies – this week to embark on unique learning experiences and are documenting their travels.
From service-learning experiences and a bike trip around France to an occupational therapy conference, Western Mustangs are gaining an international perspective on their studies and making the world their classroom.
To find out how occupational therapy works in Chile; the number of bicycle tires it takes to get Kinesiology students across France’s Touraine district; and the challenges of providing health care in Nicaragua or community development in Peru, follow the groups’ blogs or Flickr photo galleries.
Cycling in France
Thirty Kinesiology students are pedalling across France’s Touraine district, meeting up with President Emeritus Paul Davenport for the annual bike trip May 1-12.
Davenport, who now resides in Tours, France, will be guiding the tour alongside Professor Alan Salmoni exploring rural roads in the historic area.
The trip is an activity course, an outdoor recreation offering of the kinesiology activity program instructed by Salmoni.
Photos of the bike tour are posted on Flickr at www.flickr.com/photos/atwestern/sets/72157623786560845/.
Tour information provided by Davenport is posted on the following website: www.uwo.ca/pvp/loire-tour-archive.html.
Western OT in Chile
Faculty members and students from the professional master’s program in Occupational Therapy are in Santiago, Chile for the World Federation of Occupational Therapists Congress.
The theme is “Sharing the World of Occupation from Latin America” and the congress runs from May 4-7.
Led by Lynn Shaw, the students in the course OT 9662 are participating in an International Course as part of the master’s of Clinical Science in Occupational Therapy.
Angela Mandich, Director – School of Occupational Therapy, is sharing her thoughts about the conference on a blog at https://atwestern.typepad.com/western_ot_in_chile/2010/04/looking-forward-to-our-exciting-ot-trip.html.
The group is also posting photos to Flickr, which can be viewed at https://www.flickr.com/photos/atwestern/sets/72157623831607259/.
Alternative Spring Break
Follow the daily experiences of students and staff leaders in Peru and Nicaragua engaging in service-learning activities on the Alternative Spring Break blog.
The group is working with non-governmental organization Nexos Voluntarios and International Service Learning respectively as part of the Alternative Spring Break program. Originally set for a February departure, the trips had to be rescheduled due to harsh weather conditions.
The trip to San Jose, Costa Rica was also rescheduled for May.
To read the blog from Peru and Nicaragua, written by Research Communications Co-ordinator and Peru team leader Douglas Keddy and students in Nicaragua, visit https://atwestern.typepad.com/asb2010/.