The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : `The young are willing to take up community service'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Jan 21, 2006

Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

`The young are willing to take up community service'

Special Correspondent

There are visible results when one opts for community work: Susan Stroud

Susan Stroud — Photo: K. Bhagya Prakash

Bangalore: "Young people don't lack idealism but need opportunities to turn that idealism into action,'' says Susan Stroud, Executive Director of the Innovations in Civic Participation, a U.S.-based non-profit organisation. She was among those involved in the AmeriCorps movement launched by the former President Bill Clinton, which seeks students from universities to volunteer for a year's full-time community work.

"These may be programmes related to education, local environment or public health issues and the options are provided by local governments and non-governmental organisations. They get paid only a sustenance stipend but get vouchers for paying their way through college after the year ends,'' Ms. Stroud explains.

Since 1994 when it began, 4,50,000 students have worked at this and each year about 75,000 sign up. "There were just 20,000 the first year," she adds. A coalition of 950 American universities is behind this effort.

On her visit to Bangalore, Ms. Stroud gave a talk at the Al Ameen College. She said like in India, the voting age in the U.S. is 18 but not all that many aged less than 25 register themselves to become voters. The actual number of young people voting may be fairly small, she says. "Many young people are a bit cynical with the governments and don't really believe they do enough. More young people are willing to volunteer for community service than to get into local government positions,'' she explains. This is because there are visible results when they opt for community work.

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