IU professor encourages civic service

Ann Marie Thomson, an adjunct professor for the School of Public and Environmental Affairs, has committed much of her time and energy encouraging others to become "virtuous citizens." \nCo-authors of the book, "Civic Service: What Difference Does It Make?," Thomson and Associate Dean of SPEA at IUPUI James L. Perry outline the effects of civic service programs in America and the qualities programs must have in order to be successful. By researching 139 studies, which included 115 publications of reports, evaluations and case studies, Thomson and Perry noticed patterns in the results. \n"Since the 20th century, we have seen civic service become a way to respond to circumstances," Thomson said. \nAlthough planting trees, building national parks and the creating of literacy programs are ways to respond to problems in educational practices or the environment in the United States, Thomson observed that much of the success for some programs relied heavily on a functioning government. \nBorn in the Democratic Republic of the Congo to missionary parents, Thomson understands the difficulty of creating programs to improve communities in African nations where the government and economy function minimally. Thomson described the Congo as having an "extractive economy," which she explained as having all of the nation's wealth profit the people and businesses of outside countries. Despite the resources of diamonds, gold, uranium and some oil in the Congo, ordinary Congolese make approximately $25 annually, Thomson said. \n"The Congo has been bleeding for years," she said. \nTo help the Congolese, a people to which she remains loyal, Thomson co-founded a nonprofit organization called Giving Back Africa with her husband in 2003. Last January, Thomson traveled to the Congo to assess the needs of the communities, conduct interviews with the people and gauge interest in GBA. \nThis April, Thomson plans to return with a proposal to the Protestant University of the Congo. She said the GBA plans to create a program at PUC which will allow promising Congolese students to attend the university for free, much like the Wells Scholars program at IU.\nMany Congolese students wish to learn, but cannot afford to. To attend school is a luxury that many students take for granted, Thomson said. \n"The longing to go to school is something we've lost in America," she said. \nThe program would be highly selective and would require students to sign a contract stating that upon graduation, the students would commit two years of service to a rural community in the Congo. Thomson said she believes the Congolese must help themselves in order to change their circumstances. \nIn their book, Thomson and Perry stress that successful civic service programs require not only that the program is offered, but that certain mediating factors must be present between the server and the outcome. Thomson said she noticed that in programs with on-the-job training, the rate of success was much higher with a leader present to give immediate feedback, as opposed to a program with one mandatory training session before the service began. Though Thomson said she believes the Congolese have the responsibility of helping themselves out of their poor economic circumstances, she understands the importance of outside assistance. Thomson encourages IU students to take service-learning courses and to "learn about the root causes of why issues exist" in other countries. \nHelping others as a way to help one's self feel better is an incentive many people neglect, Thomson said. \n"Even though Congo is half-way around the world, we are intimately connected to one another," she said.