“Community service can really make a big difference without you spending much money. I know that volunteering is a very important thing to build a strong community,” Global UGRAD in Eurasia and Central Asia [10] student, Iurii, reflects after his recent volunteer experience cleaning up a local river.
Five Global UGRAD students at the University of Louisiana at Monroe [11] recently experienced the impact of collective action in their host community. Iurii (Ukraine), Begaiym (Kyrgyzstan), Radu (Moldova), Jasurbek (Uzbekistan), and Dinara (Kazakhstan) collected more than 200 pounds of trash as volunteers during the 7th Annual Ouachita River Sweep [12].
The River Sweep is part of the local government initiative Keep Monroe Beautiful [13], which engages individuals, households, and businesses, “to take greater responsibility for improving their community environments.” The local Ouachita Parish and the U.S. Army Corps gave volunteers life jackets, gloves, and garbage bags, and volunteers brought their boats to clean up litter and trash along the river and banks.
Keeping the river clean is important to residents of Monroe, with approximately 200 people volunteering for the River Sweep to remove five to ten tons of trash each year. The area has a history of mercury warnings, and litter is a constant problem, as hazardous items affect area wildlife and water supplies.
Iurii believes that, “this event is important for the Monroe community because it keeps the Ouachita River clean and gives a possibility for the proactive people of the city to join together and show their active attitude and love to their home.” Seeing people come together to improve their community in this manner inspired the Global UGRAD students to bring the values they have learned to their home communities. This experience prompted both Iurii and Jasurbek to consider the impacts community service can have in their home countries.
Jasurbek said: “I think such community services should not be seen not only as a social responsibility, but also as a patriotic duty of a citizen. It is a small contribution that we can make to the development of our country.”
The Global Undergraduate Exchange Program in Eurasia and Central Asia [10] is a program of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs [14] of the U.S. Department of State and is implemented by IREX.