Alma India Program
The Alma India Program is a unique study abroad program which combines a significant portion of service work with traditional academic work. Based in Ayroor, Kerala in southern India, students will participate in the life of Mathen Mappilai Memorial School and study with faculty from Mahatma Gandhi University. Discovering Vocation provides up to $1,500 to cover the costs of airfare for Alma College students. Tuition, room and board costs are the same as for studying on campus. The International Education office provides details on the program.
Two students learn unique lessons in India. See story.
For more detailed information see India Opportunities and International Education.
Sara Rose Chapman ‘07 "This program is totally unique in that it incorporates academic education into a full cultural experience. I learn lessons in education by teaching at a school; I study sociology by assisting in the pain and palliative care unit in a nearby city. We travel to Kottayam to take courses with professors in environmental science and Gandhian thought and I remain up-to-date on the world by reading the daily Indian Express. To date, I've ridden on an elephant, attended a traveling circus, learned to wear a sari, feasted from a banana leaf, learned some Malayalam, and witnessed traditional dance performances."
Nicholas Alexander Maciulis ‘08 "India is a fantastic place. The monsoon season has ended and we are being exposed to warm weather and lots of sun. Kerala is very lush with vegetation…I really enjoyed hiking with the professors very early in the morning on the lower regions on the Western Ghats. It was an awe-inspiring scene to see water falls bursting out of mountains."
