buildOn Boston

Sometimes the most noticeable and uplifting difference you can make in a community is through beautification. By cleaning graffiti, creating public art, or planting community gardens that also feed their neighbors, buildOn students show their communities that they care. Twenty-five percent of all buildOn service activities are dedicated to indirect service.

When buildOn U.S. students have shown an outstanding commitment to serving their own communities, they are given the opportunity to participate in an intensive global service learning experience. Traveling to some of the economically poorest countries on the planet, buildOn students help build schools, witnessing the incredible enthusiasm for education from people who lack all access to it and gaining a renewed appreciation for their own educational opportunities.

For two weeks, our students live and work with host families in rural villages, building meaningful relationships. They dig latrines, make bricks, and mix concrete in collaboration with the parents whose children will benefit from the school. When not on the worksite, students participate in activities that expose them to new ways of life, learning that, while economically impoverished, these villages are rich in culture and community.