International Study Program

The Brotherhood/Sister Sol facilitates the International Study Program (ISP) in Africa and Latin America for members of our Rites of Passage Program, Liberation Program and After School Teen Enrichment Program. It is a natural continuation of our work on leadership development, Pan African and Latino/a history, and global awareness.

From hectic urban centers, to peaceful villages, to mountain tops and pristine beaches, our members are immersed in the rhythms of the host country: learning, exchanging, drumming, dancing, exploring, growing during a month overseas.

They gain an expansive understanding and appreciation of humanity and broaden their global awareness. Inevitably, they return home more motivated and better prepared as students, youth leaders and global citizens.

Learn more about this year’s ISP visit to Cuba.

Global Studies, Knowledge of Self & Group Bonding

ISP participants examine the history, culture, geography, environment, and social, and political conditions of Africa and Latin America. In doing so, they build a nuance understanding of world history, US foreign policy, and what “globalization” actually looks like across different cultures and context. Each program focuses on issues specific to the host country. In Ghana it is Pan-Africanism and the Trans alantic Slave Trade, in Brasil, landless rights/land use and Afro-Brasilian culture, in the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico, the “New World,” sovereignty and immigration, and in Cuba, social issues, health care, cultural traditions, and the impact of the US embargo.

They confront their legacy and beliefs in ways that cannot be derived from textbooks or documentaries. Two weeks spent in a Ghanaian village or in small town in Brasil gives young people an intimate and nuanced understanding that broadens their perspective and reconnects them. These hands-on experiences are deeply empowering, as our members learn about the complex history and cultures of the African Diaspora, and the greater world outside the United States.

Coordination

ISP is coordinated by Bro/Sis Co-Founder and Associate Executive Director Jason Warwin, who has over 20 years experience in international education programming. Day-to-day facilitation is rotated among Bro/Sis staff who work in pairs on program planning and facilitation, fundraising, and logistics. They serve as teachers, guides, caregivers, and friends, offering their knowledge of the host country and global issues, cross-cultural sensitivity, conflict resolution, and first aid. ISP has three components:

1. Preparation

Each Fall our teens apply to ISP. From January through June the group prepares for the overseas experience by participating in bi-weekly workshops, conducting research, meeting with guest experts, attending cultural outings, and taking foreign language lessons.

They create a Mission Statement of collective goals for experience, and just before departing take part in a 3-day Orientation. Each participant also receives a Handbook with an overview of the host country, program policy and packing list.

2. Immersion

The group divides its time overseas between urban areas and extended stays in a town or village. They have exchanges with youth from non-governmental organizations, work on community projects, and meet with U.S. government officials. Youth facilitate seminars, conduct ethnographic research, lead public presentations, and attend foreign language, history and culture classes at a university taught by local professors. Spontaneous activities and adventures help make the learning process exciting and fun.

A curriculum of articles, literary and encyclopedia excerpts, and social data is a primary resource. Every participant contributes to a Group Journal that becomes a record of each day’s activities and the meaningful insights acquired while studying and living overseas.

3. Exhibition

Once back home each participant shares his/ her new knowledge and perspectives with their families, schools and communities by:

Giving a slide show presentation
Installing a photography exhibition
Shooting and producing a video
Using their new knowledge of human rights issues to work for social change

Host Countries, Theme & Key Partners

Since 1996, Bro/Sis has facilitated ISP in:

Morocco & Spain (1996): Journey of the Moors
South Africa (1997, 2005): Reconciliation & Renewal
Mexico (1998): Olmec Tour
Egypt (1999): Journey to Antiquities
Ghana (2001, 2007, 2011, 2014, 2017): Sankofa Tour – Dr. Kodzo Gavua, Archaeology Department Chair, University of Legon (Accra) and Thread community organization (Ntonso)
Puerto Rico & Dominican Republic (2003, 2008): De Nueva York a Las Islas – Student Agency Services (Santo Domingo, DR) and La Hermidad (Bonao, DR)
Brasil (2006, 2009, 2015, 2018): Spirit of the Diaspora – Irmãos Unidos (Arembepe) and Afro Reggae (Rio de Janeiro)
Haiti & the Dominican Republic (2013)
Cuba (2016, 2019)

ISP works with university, NGO and secondary school partners whose vast knowledge of the host country and access to sites and resources allow for a diverse program. Our partners enable us to stay connected to the overseas communities we visit year after year. Though our members are relatively privileged in comparison to their African and Latin American peers, Bro/Sis is aware that the youth we meet overseas may never have the opportunity to travel outside their country. Long-term partnerships ensure those who help to make ISP an immersed and unique experience also benefit from our visit.

Through our youth development model, distributing our publications, and participating in projects that assist local communities, we offer tangible impact. Adagana in Ghana is modeled on Bro/Sis, and Bro/Sis Co-Founder Jason Warwin started Brotherhood in Brasil (Irmãos Unidos) where he is training local youth workers. It is exciting for our members to know that, unlike a typical tourist experience, they will connect with Adagana or Irmãos Unidos who have a similar mission as Bro/Sis. Bonds forged in cross-cultural understanding and shared values are made and youth leadership is supported.

Enduring Impact

ISP is life-changing. Some of our members have never flown before or crossed an ocean. They may have never facilitated a workshop or conducted research. They return home understanding that to learn history is to learn about the roots of contemporary society, to examine U.S. policy is to explore the effect of globalization, and to learn about others is to learn more about themselves.

They renew their appreciation for education and their families and have their social consciousness raised. And though we conduct ISP in the African Diaspora, it opens up the entire world to them. Our alumni are world travelers with global perspectives who have gone onto to study abroad and work overseas.

%

of BroSis alumni have graduated from high school or earned a GED

"I believe so deeply in the life-saving work that The Brotherhood Sister Sol is dedicated to: values and skills building that empower young people and keep them on course; helping young people to see and develop the extraordinary within themselves; ensuring their safe passage to adulthood. It is surely one of the most incredible organizations in the nation. Their work is catalytic! Their leadership, their services and outcomes are without peer. Simply put, The Brotherhood Sister Sol does the work that few others will or even know how to do…. They have answered the call to repair the village, to secure the children. It’s our responsibility to ensure they have all they need to do God’s work."

Susan L. Taylor

Founder & CEO, National CARES Mentoring Movement, Editor in Chief, Essence Magazine

"[The Brotherhood Sister Sol] is using their passion to uplift and inspire a next generation through extraordinary work that creates leaders and a sanctuary for children…. where their members can develop a higher vision of themselves."

Oprah Winfrey

Founder of the OWN