AHEAD VOLUNTEER WORK PROGRAM

AHEAD IS A PEOPLE TO PEOPLE EXPERIENCE

AHEAD, was founded 21 years ago as a people-to-people exchange between Americans and people of goodwill from other countries with those in developing countries. Since 1985, AHEAD has provided a unique opportunity for professionals as well as undergraduate and graduate students to volunteer to work side by side with their African counterparts in community projects in rural Tanzania and The Gambia.

AHEAD has provided unique opportunities for professionals as well as undergraduate and graduate students to work side by side with their African counterparts in community projects in rural Africa. Volunteers spend from one month to one year working with development projects.  Volunteers are challenged physically as well as intellectually as they work with projects in health care, agriculture, construction, renovation, water, engineering and education.  The volunteers leave their assigned project not only with the feeling of giving, but also with the joy of receiving.  They return home with an exposure to a new language and culture, first hand experiences in diverse fields, and a renewed sense of self-worth.

"When I first arrived, I was quite overwhelmed by the lacking conditions of the village even though I was prepared in a very intensive one-week orientation.  I was very pleased with the fact that I was able to apply skills and knowledge that I have gained at MIT towards improving the conditions of the people.  The lack of resources required creativity on our part.  The way that we have been taught to solve problems here at MIT really influenced the way I attacked and found solutions to problems there that initially seemed insurmountable". Nneka Mobisson, MIT, Cambridge, MA

COLLEGES & UNIVERSITIES ATTENDED BY AHEAD VOLUNTEERS

Univ of MD-College Park, Univ of MD-Eastern Shore, Univ of Maryland – Baltimore, Univ Of MD College of Dentistry,  Univ of Mass, Amherst College, College of Charleston, Johns Hopkins Univ, Johns Hopkins Univ School of Public Health, American Univ, Georgetown Univ, George Washington Univ, Univ of Chicago, Univ of Illinois, Northwestern Univ,  University of Dayton, Catholic Univ, *North Carolina State Univ, *Langston Univ, *Shaw Univ, *Howard Univ, *Howard Univ Dental College, *Spellman College, * Tuskegee University, *Meharry Medical College, * Drew Medical School, *Bennett College, *Morgan State Univ, *Hampton University, *Winston Salem State Univ, *Florida A & M Univ, *Oakwood College, *Univ of Delaware, *Univ of the District of Columbia, *Lincoln Univ PA, Drexel Univ, Southeastern Univ, Univ of Georgia, UCLA, Univ of Southern Calif, Univ of Calif – Sacramento, Univ of Calif – San Francisco, Fresno City College, Occidental College LA, Pepperdine Univ, Lehman College, NYU, Long Island University, Cornell,  MIT, Harvard, Harvard Univ Medical School, Tufts, Boston Univ, Boxton Univ College of Medicine, Northeastern Univ,  Duke University, Bucknell Univ, Austin College TX, Texarkana College, Montgomery College, Prince Georges College, Calif Polytechnic Univ, Univ of The Virgin Islands, Notre Dame College (Cleveland), Oregon State, Penn State, Univ of Wisconsin, Homer Phillips Nursing School, Gymnasium (Bonn, Germany), Catholic Univ of Lauvain (Belgium), Yale, Univ of Miami

"I cannot thank you enough for allowing me to go to Tanzania with you. Working with AHEAD has allowed me to get involved in the community in a way that I never saw as possible. The people I met and the experiences that I had impacted me in a way that I cannot express. I just know that it will stay in my heart and I will remember this journey always and forever. Thank you..." Linnie Supall-Burks, University of Miami

"...my experience was invaluable.  I learned more about tropical diseases, and how to work within limited reliance on technology.  But most of all, the gratitude of patients that I cared for was a moving experience".  Melissa Clarke, MD(Emergency Medicine) Harvard Univ. Medical School

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