Student volunteering abroad : an analysis of the perspective changes and spritual growth of former Seattle University students from having served with the Sisters of Charity of Mother Teresa in Calcutta (Kolkata)

摘要

My central research question is to study the intrinsic changes to American students usingudnarrative analysis to better understand how personal and spiritual growth may have occurredudas a result of volunteering abroad. For my Institute of Education International EdD Thesis, Iudconducted in-depth interviews with 25 alumni spanning two decades from the SeattleudUniversity volunteer program that places students in Mother Teresa's hospices inudCalcutta/Kolkata. I was the first Seattle University student to serve in India in 1985 andudnearly 150 have participated in the program since then. Drawing on these interviews, I thenudanalyze the internal changes experienced by these alumni as a result of volunteering abroad,udusing a formula of codes which I designed. The study does not evaluate the extrinsic value ofudvolunteer programs (e.g. impact on the community, quality of health care delivery, etc.), butudis focused on better understanding the personal and spiritual growth encountered as a result ofudworking with the "poorest of the poor" in Calcutta. The methodology I used to conduct andudanalyze the interviews builds upon the methodology applied in my International EdDudInstitution-Focused Study.udThere exist two primary goals of this study, both of which are of equal importance:ud1. To better understand the more immediate impact on one's interior life due to caring forudthe sick and dying in the hospices of Calcutta.ud2. To explore the spiritual questioning and spiritual development of volunteers as a result ofudtheir working with Mother Teresa's Missionaries of Charity in Calcutta.