The Student Leader Fellowship Program (SLFP) will hold an International Volunteerism SkillBulder! workshop at 10:30 a.m. on Monday, April 16 in the Bresnan Room of West Science.

“The workshop is about how the meaning of volunteerism and community service and how the perception changes from country to country and culture to culture,” said NMU alumna and presenter Betsy Ott. “Volunteerism, the way Americans know it is, a relatively new concept and that was kind of a shock to me when I started working in Ukraine.”

Along with Ott, Lena Kashkarova, director of the Baranivka project, a non-governmental organization in Ukraine, will present information on her project.

John Barch, assistant director and coordinator for SLFP, will be facilitating the NMU end of the discussion; however Ott and Kashkarova will Skype to share their experience with volunteerism in a post-Soviet culture.

Along with their presentations, both Ott and Kashkarova will do some activities to get discussion going.