The Red and Black

Editor's Note: This is one in a series of profiles about different student organizations.

Students looking for an outlet to help solve community and world issues may turn to Globally Aware and Active People, a student organization on campus.

The group, which has about 15 to 20 members, provides opportunities for students to be "actively involved in the change they wish to see," said Ryan Graham, a junior from Alpharetta and co-liaison for GAAP.

Originally known as One Kid at a Time, this organization was formed as a result of a 2004 study abroad trip to Moshi, Tanzania, various members said.

After seeing the poverty there, the students returned to see the same poverty present in their own community.

They decided to focus their club's efforts on the Athens-Clarke County community, as well as overseas, and changed their name to Globally Aware and Active People.

The ultimate goal of GAAP is to foster student involvement with social issues.

"It's a combination of awareness, knowledge and action to make a positive difference locally and globally," said Richard Kiely, the group's faculty adviser and an assistant professor in the College of Education.

Kiely said GAAP takes a leadership role in implementing programs to address social problems by raising awareness and promoting service-learning.

Service-learning combines service work with academic learning to address community problems, he said.

This method of education encourages students to work together through projects and later to reflect on their experience, he said.

Service-learning allows students to get more out of the projects and to learn more about themselves and the world, said Olga Herndon, a freshman from Roswell and co-liaison for GAAP.

There are many opportunities for service-learning, Kiely said.

"Going back to classroom learning (after service-learning) is like going from a motorcycle, a really good one, back to a tricycle," Kiely said. "Service-learning teaches students to construct knowledge - you don't need a teacher to show you. It can be very, very powerful because you're rethinking what knowledge is and how it's applied."

GAAP works in conjunction with the Office of Service-Learning and Institutional Engagement by meeting with University students, faculty and administration to support the service-learning approach.

GAAP members also are involved with a number of other projects that give students the chance to make themselves heard in the Athens community and on campus.

The group supports the Living Wage Network at the University - an organization that attempts to ensure University employees receive sufficient pay to satisfy basic needs, Graham said.

"GAAP sees (the Living Wage Network) as an incredible opportunity to raise the quality of life for thousands of individuals in the ACC community," he said.

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