DOI: https://doi.org/10.26758/16.1.12
“Francisc Rainer” Institute of Anthropology, Romanian Academy, e-mail: iusein.ervin@ichb.ro, https://orcid.org/0009-0002-7111-7102
Abstract
This study explores the impact of structured student volunteering projects in East Africa on civic engagement, empathy, and intercultural understanding. It examines the alignment between hands-on experience, socio-emotional development, and the reduction of prejudice through inter-group contact, to foster the life-long development of valuable and engaged citizens for a challenging future. Previous research in this area shows that, among adults, greater inequality is associated with lower civic engagement. On the other hand, carefully implemented inter-group contact experiences have been shown to positively affect school engagement and achievement with implications for youth well-being and healthy social development.
The primary data was collected via individual semi-structured interviews with participants (students and teachers), informal parental reports, and observations of post-trip behavioral changes.
Findings revealed enhanced empathy, a heightened desire for social impact, and deeper intercultural understanding among students. Participants reported transformative experiences that exceeded initial expectations, despite early apprehensions, as well as a lifelong commitment to such projects. Teachers expressed aspirations for long-term engagement, including NGO formation and adoption considerations. The emotional aftermath included a brief period of post-trip melancholy.
The findings of this study provide evidence of the significant positive impact that such firsthand experiences can have on youth, fostering motivation, empathy, and engagement in charity projects aimed at reducing the inequalities that continue to characterize contemporary human society. These findings support existing theories on relatedness and intergroup contact, emphasizing the developmental value of immersive, empathetic engagement for adolescents.
Keywords: Civic engagement, student volunteering, intercultural experience, inter-group contact, social development.
Suggested citation (APA):
Iusein, E. (2026). Transformative intercultural engagement: The impact of student volunteering projects in East Africa on civic development and empathy. Anthropological Researches and Studies, 16, 159-168. https://doi.org/10.26758/16.1.12
Introduction
In the last decade, a major interest has developed in offering students the opportunity to take part in a wide range of volunteering projects, or allowing them to lead such enterprises, either at high school or university level. Educational establishments preoccupied not only with their students’ academic performance but also with building their character, have increasingly implemented such projects, enriching students’ experience in this respect (Holdsworth et al., 2014).
Organizing volunteer projects immerses students in others’ lived experiences, nurturing empathy, humility, and a global mindset. This ethical growth strengthens social capital, empowering students to become compassionate individuals who value solidarity and inclusive problem-solving. Overall, embedding charity and volunteering within educational settings equips students with a multifaceted skill repertoire, fostering empathy and ethics essential for a global world (Mortimer, 2012).
Volunteers develop critical thinking, problem-solving, and effective communication skills as they plan, coordinate, and execute projects within their communities. This fosters stronger connections to community needs, leading to heightened social responsibility and civic identity as students witness the direct impact of their efforts. Not least, this kind of experience allows for the exploration of possible career paths by taking on leadership roles, managing budgets, and liaising with partner organizations.
Overall, engagement in such projects motivates participants through a combination of altruistic and instrumental functions. A mixed-methods study at the University of Gondar found that students were driven by a desire to enhance practical skills, bolster their résumés, and contribute meaningfully to community welfare, with 47% focusing specifically on social and disability affairs (Wondimu et al., 2024).
Research on this topic indicates that among adults, higher inequality results in lower civic engagement. Especially if individuals were not involved with volunteering projects during their childhood, there will be a reluctance in this respect, later in life. In opposition to this, Godfrey and collaborators found, in a study conducted in several areas of the United States, that youth living in more unequal American counties had slightly higher rates of civic engagement (Godfrey & Cherng, 2016). At the same time, relatedness has been shown to have positive effects on school engagement and achievement (Furrer & Skinner, 2003; King, 2015), with implications for students’ wellbeing and healthy social development.
It is a well-established fact that stereotypes and prejudice related to gender, ethnicity, and other social group memberships often emerge in childhood and can continue throughout the lifespan (Bigler et al., 2007; Rutland et al., 2010). Carefully implemented inter-group contact experiences can be effective at reducing prejudice and encouraging friendships among students of diverse backgrounds (Rutland et al., 2015; Turner et al., 2016). This value orientation correlates with sustained volunteer involvement, indicating that early exposure to service projects can predetermine long-term civic participation.
A recent OECD analysis shows that structured youth volunteering programs foster confidence, democratic association, and solidarity—key ingredients for resilient societies (Gagliardi et al., 2024). In its 2030 plan of action, the United Nations highlights volunteerism’s role in mobilizing citizen action, amplifying marginalized voices, and embedding inclusive decision-making at the grassroots level.
Material and methods
General objectives
The objectives of this study are:
O1. To investigate the midterm effects of teenagers and adult educators’ involvement in civil engagement and charity projects that imply significant social, economic, and cultural discrepancies
O2. To identify the emotional and social implications, as well as the effects on civic engagement
O3. To assess shifts in empathy and social awareness among participating students and teachers and evaluate changes in attitude and behavior
Research questions
- How do students describe changes in their sense of purpose and personal values following the project?
- How does volunteering on the well-digging project impact on students’ intentions to engage in future community service or advocacy work?
- Does involvement in the project influence students’ academic interests, chosen majors, or career trajectories?
- What shifts occur in students’ attitudes and perceptions toward underserved communities and cultures as an indicator of direct engagement?
Data collection and participants’ profile
The data for this qualitative research were obtained through detailed, semi-structured interviews (between one hour to one hour and a half in length) with each of the participants individually, both high school students (age 16 to 18) and adult educators. In addition to this, wherever possible, discussions with students’ parents took place.
The participating students were enrolled at a private high school in Bucharest, which has national recognition for high-level education and achievements. Most of the students come from families with high income and social status. At the same time, all parents are university graduates, involved to a high extent with their children’s development and willing to invest in their education.
Academically the great majority of students perform at a high academic level, getting admitted to top universities worldwide as well as in Romania, upon graduation. In an effort to maintain the balance between academic achievements and the individual and social wellbeing, as well as to raise civic engagement and awareness in students, the school administration has, in recent years, started to implement a series of initiatives and projects under the name “Character education”.
One such charity projects involved collecting a substantial amount of money with the purpose of digging a water well, in a remote village in poor regions of Africa, to provide access to clean water for people in need. Upon completion of the work, a group of students, accompanied by their teachers, went to Africa to officially open the fountain. At the same time, participants provided food for a few months to families in need, using the collected money, and visited orphanages in the area, providing kids with sweets and toys, spending quality time with them.
So far, two projects of this kind have been successfully implemented, over two consecutive years: the first one took place in May 2023, in Tanzania (33 participants, including three teachers) while the second one in April 2024, in Kenya (36 participants, including four teachers).
The interviews for this study were conducted with the students and schoolteachers, directly involved with raising funds for the implementation of the project and going to Africa upon completion. At the beginning, all participants were informed about the purpose and objectives of the research. Interviews were semi-structured. Participants were guided by inviting questions throughout the discussions and were free to express their feelings and ideas as much as possible, with no limitation of time. At the end, in most cases, a debriefing session was necessary, given the highly emotional build-up of the experience (Ahmed et al., 2025)
Data analysis
To analyze the data obtained through individual interviews, Braun and Clarke’s thematic and emotional analysis was employed; a six-phase method for identifying, analyzing, and reporting patterns (themes) within qualitative data (Braun, Clarke, 2006, 2021; Naeem et al., 2023).
Following the method mentioned above, a careful reading of the raw data (transcripts, notes) was performed, actively engaging with the interview material and identifying initial ideas and potential patterns. Next, meaningful features and relevant information related to our research questions were identified and coded. Upon identification, codes were grouped and merged into broader categories or themes relevant to the research, using mind maps. In some instances, subthemes were also developed.
Figure 1
Initial thematic map indicating four candidate themes, based on Braun and Clarke’s application to reflexive thematic analysis (to see Figure 1, please click here)
A reevaluation of the themes followed, considering the relevance to the research, the relationship between features, and the degree of consistency. In some cases, themes were discarded or merged. Finally, each theme was defined and both an illustrative, descriptive, as well as analytical description was produced to showcase the main findings and results.
Results
Following the processing and interpretation of data from the semi-structured interviews using Braun and Clarke’s thematic analysis four major themes emerged, as follows:
T1. The motivation to take part in such a project
T2. The expectations and emotional state of participants before the trip to Africa
T3. The first impressions upon arrival and the emotional impact
T4. Plans and directions following this experience
We will discuss further and describe each of these themes, giving, wherever possible or appropriate, examples or citations from the transcripts and notes to illustrate the results. The descriptions were broken down into the two different groups of participants, teachers and students, and are presented separately.
T1. The motivation to take part in such a project
As the name implies, the first theme highlights the drives that determine participants, either adolescents or adults, to take part in the organization and implementation of charity, volunteering, and civic projects, like the one analyzed in this paper. Most times, there is a combination of internal factors (desires, ideals, etc.) and external influences (role models, career paths, etc.)
Most of the teachers mentioned the belief that students must have “first-hand” contact with the realities of life, whether positive or negative, and that it is part of their mission as educators to make this experience happen, alongside academic performance. Not surprisingly, all teachers also talked about one of their objectives to be implemented in every academic year- finding and involving themselves, together with students in social projects of great impact.
At the same time, 71% of the teachers interviewed emphasized an intrinsic personal desire and curiosity to find out and get in contact with other societies and cultures and try to be of use thorough individual contributions, either material or spiritual.
Thus, what one can observe here is that these idealistic educators acknowledge their complex role in society, together with the school as an educational establishment.
Related to this theme, all the students interviewed mentioned, in the first place, as motivation, the passion for volunteering activities and the desire to improve and be of use to humanity. This finding suggests that these adolescents already have a history with volunteering projects. This previous experience contributed to building a passion for such enterprises and the need for continuity, consistency, and desire to get involved in more complex projects of this kind.
Some of the students mentioned among the motivating factors “the need to explore disfavored environments and to do good”. In addition to this, more than half of the students interviewed also displayed a more pragmatic attitude, actively looking for new ideas and interesting projects to get involved with. We identified a high level of maturity in the thinking of these students, since they were conscientiously searching for ways to better themselves and develop their personality. Approximately a quarter of the students also talked about their innate curiosity to find out more about distant cultures and societies, and thus this project offered them such an opportunity.
T2. The expectations and emotional state of participants before the trip to Africa
The second theme identified, investigates the perceptions of the participants from a “before the experience” perspective. None of the volunteers, either adult or adolescent, had visited an underdeveloped, remote community in Africa before, or had previous contact with members of such a society. All they knew about the people they were about to visit was information from books, documentaries, and the most accessed source of information today- social media. This is the reason why the descriptions of the participants touching this point led to the construction of another salient subject.
As results from the interviews, all the teachers were expecting to be treated with reservation, doubt, and even hostility from the local people. The explanation for such an outcome was that they believed there is a lot of misunderstanding stemming from the socio-economic gap and the lack of communication between the two cultures. Thus, most of the adult participants confessed they were experiencing the “fear to be misunderstood”- the beneficiaries of this charity project might misjudge them, thinking there are other targets behind the pure purpose of doing good and be of help.
Moreover, 90% of the teachers declared they were expecting to meet uncommunicative people and that it would not be easy to interact with them. As it turned out, their fears and expectations were not confirmed. They were welcomed by extremely warm and friendly people of all ages, and a connection was established right from the first half hour.
Regarding the students, all the interviewees declared unanimously that they did not know what to expect. Since it was the first time, they had the opportunity to interact with people from such a distant culture, they just “waited to see on the spot”. This is the reason why they could also not articulate any description or expectation during our discussions.
However, when asked about the outcome, all of them agreed that “everything was beyond expectations”, and that there was no way to anticipate any of the emotional and cultural richness of this experience.
T3. The first impressions upon arrival and the emotional impact
The third theme that emerged during the qualitative analysis of the narratives is constructed from the codes that reveal the first impressions and the emotional impact these produced on the participants. As is described below, it proves that those enterprises are not mere trips from a European country to East Africa but carry a strong emotional load, together with having long lasting effects on the personality of the individuals.
Analyzing this theme revealed that teachers were most impacted by the living conditions of the children and the local people in general. This high impact could be explained by the significant gap between the socio-economic and living conditions of the volunteers’ country of origin and the respective African countries.
In their account, teachers described the conditions they witnessed, which left a high emotional impression on them, in phrases such as: “large classrooms that accommodate around 150 students, a small bottle of around 200 ml of water for the whole day, people sleeping in bushes, having meat only once per year, etc.” One of the teachers reported, in tears, that a girl told her there is no more danger to be raped now, that they have access to running water in the center of the village. On top of this, all the adult participants were surprised to see that people were happy and content with what they have and were very optimistic about life in general.
Again, the most striking characteristic pertaining to this theme, as it resulted from the discussions with the volunteer students, was the intense impact, even stronger compared to the adults’ experience. It is important to recall, at this point, that these adolescents come from supportive families with high socio-economic status that provide all conditions necessary for optimal development – physical, cognitive, and cultural. Therefore, it is not surprising that the emotional impact on students was stronger. When asked to describe their experience in this matter, students, some in tears, used words like “devastating” or “beyond any expectation”.
The extreme level of poverty they were exposed to, surpassing anything they had previously encountered, made them confront “the reality of the world,” as one student poignantly noted during the interview. At the same time, this experience ignited a profound emotional and cognitive shift in students, as becomes evident in the next theme.
T4. Plans and directions following this experience
The last theme identified emphasizes the long-term implications of such experiences for both students and teachers. Especially in adolescents, it emphasizes their importance and contribution in shaping the personality in preparation for a world under continuous change and pressure. It is also obvious that it contributes to fostering the qualities needed for truly global citizens that are sensitive to the world’s problems.
From the individual discussions with teachers, it emerged that taking part in this project had important implications for their career, expanding their horizons and motivating them to get more involved in the future. Many mentioned that they are looking for a longer time experience of this kind, willing to spend a large period of time with these communities. One teacher said that having this firsthand experience made her “feel closer to Africa”, a sentence that beautifully describes the impression produced.
Moreover, the head teacher of the volunteering club of the school who initiated this program considers developing the club further by giving students more opportunities of this kind and starting the procedures to obtain legal recognition. By becoming an NGO, she considers that the club will become more visible and will attract a larger number of volunteers, thus expanding beyond the borders of the high school. One of the teachers interviewed mentioned among other plans that she considers adopting a child from the orphanages visited during the trip.
These accounts speak about the high positive influence and the transformative power such projects can have even on adults.
Regarding the students, this theme clearly proves the positive outcomes that emerge from such an endeavor, revealing its high potential in shaping the responsible citizens of tomorrow.
All the students interviewed unanimously agreed that there is a need to get more involved with the African communities and that they are determined to do so in the future. One of the students who took part in both trips over the two consecutive years, confessed she plans to do a minor in African studies at college. She believes that this will give her a better understanding of these communities and their needs.
In the same manner, a student who was planning to pursue a career in medicine, mentioned that this experience transformed his perceptions, and volunteering has become for him “second nature” and a “way of life”. In fact, he was planning to become a member of the “Doctors without borders” community, right in the first year at the university.
Just like in the case of a teacher mentioned above, one of the girls also talked about considering adopting a child in the future, following a very touching interaction with a two-year-old child, in one of the orphanages, an experience that left a powerful mark on her.
This fourth theme also revealed the strong influence of such experiences on shaping students’ visions, perceptions, and philosophy of life. Many of the adolescents interviewed started to ask themselves reflexive questions like “What is my impact/role on this world?”. Thus, it is obvious that this type of interactions triggers great motivation in youth, revealing once more their long-lasting potential.
Conclusions
In conclusion, all volunteers taking part in this charity project, and especially students, became more empathetic and willing to help people in need. This experience led to higher rates of engagement from participants. The number of members of the volunteering club at school grew significantly, making this type of activity more popular as the level of awareness increased across the school through information sessions. During our discussions with volunteers’ parents in the frame of this research, they reported “feeling the change at home”. This refers to a positive transformation overall and an observable increase in empathy.
As discussed in this paper, the experience was highly demanding from an emotional standpoint. In fact, students confessed they spent around two weeks experiencing depressive feelings, on average, upon returning. The feeling of sadness and sorrow was long lasting and observable even during our interviews, this being the reason why the discussions had to end with a debriefing session, in most of the cases.
Overall, this qualitative analysis indicates an extremely positive experience with mutual benefits for both groups, fostering development of valuable and engaged citizens. The words below that most students expressed when asked to describe their feelings in one sentence, encapsulate the core of this enterprise- “A life changing experience”.
Competing interests
The authors declare no competing interests.
Consent to participate
Informed written consent was obtained from each participant at the time of recruitment. The subjects were informed that they could withdraw from the study at any stage, and they were assured of confidentiality.
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