Footsteps Global Initiative
Footsteps Global Initiative PROVIDES REGIONAL YOUTH with the opportunity to LEARN about, TRAVEL to, and SERVE locations of HUMANITARIAN IMPORTANCE, exposing students to a GLOBAL perspective.
Footsteps is a transformative experiential opportunity for students to broaden their awareness of critical world issues through hands-on discovery. This leadership and travel initiative examines global responsibility to intervene in the face of injustice. As Ambassadors of The Echo Foundation, they share their expanded world views with the greater community.
Hiking in Tjentiste National Forest, Montenegro
NatoHeadquarters, Sarajevo, Bosnia & Herzegovina
Building A Library at Nkondo Primary School, Rwinkwavu, Rwanda
Cuba Today!
A Beautiful Friendship with Andrea, Hotel Boutique 36, Sarajevo, Bosnia & Herzegovina
A Long Journey Home
On the road to Sighet, Romania
Echo in solidarity with Partners In Health, Rwanda
Elie Wiesel’s childhood home
Past Footsteps Journeys
2023: Ukraine
Following six months of study of Echo’s curriculum, UKRAINE: Calculus for Democracy (www.echoukraine.org), students traveled to locations impacted by Russia’s war on Ukraine: Eastern Poland, Paris, The Hague (International Criminal Court), Brussels (NATO Headquarters & The European Union), and more. They met with influential leaders and Ukrainian refugees, cooked alongside those providing food for those in need, and visited schools and nurseries caring for and teaching refugee children.
The trip culminated in a two-day conference between Echo Student Ambassadors and ten Ukrainian students, who shared their daily challenges and how the war has affected their lives, dreams, and hope for the future.
2020: Corona Chronicles
In the year 2020, 12 student ambassadors were ready to travel abroad after months of studying Echo’s curriculum, Justice is Not Negotiable: Dr. Mukwege and the Panzi Hospital (www.echocongoproject.org).
Just weeks away from departure, the Covid-19 pandemic hit, making travel impossible. In response, our student ambassadors developed The Echo Corona Chronicles, a video series featuring interviews with students and professionals from all over the world, in hopes of uncovering our shared humanity during the Covid-19 pandemic. Students conducted 20 interviews that span 22 professions across 14 countries in this heartwarming series that demonstrates the strength of the human spirit in a time of uncertainty.
You can check out The Echo Corona Chronicles video series here.
2017: Cuba
A unique and experiential leadership initiative, Echo’s 2017 Footsteps journey brought students to Cuba to experience first-hand a country with rich history, cultural diversity, and artistic flair. Students learned about the region, its history of communist rule, its years of economic and social isolation, and the modern-day possibilities that face this small Caribbean nation as it opens its doors to the 21st century.
Check out Echo’s curriculum, The Cuba Project, here.
2016: Bosnia
Echo Student Ambassadors journeyed to Bosnia-Herzegovina to experience the rich culture, religious diversity, and natural beauty of a country working to rebuild itself in the devastating aftermath of war and genocide.
To view Echo’s Curriculum on Bosnia, click here.
2011: Lexington
The 2011 Foosteps Global Initiative merged with Books Beyond Borders to promote literacy in Lexington, NC, public schools. Less than an hour from Charlotte, the Lexington city school system was the 66th worst in the nation for extreme child poverty, with 1 in 5 students living in extreme poverty. Massive budget cuts from the 2008 economic recession left children without the resources necessary for a quality education. Echo Student Ambassadors created classroom libraries in Lexington City Schools, gathered nearly 3,000 books to fill these libraries, and supplemented literacy instruction through summer lessons, forging new ties between Charlotte and this neighboring community.
2010: Rwanda
In 2010, Footsteps Ambassadors journeyed back to Rwanda to visit Nkondo 1 Primary School in Rwinkwavu. They brought with them various school supplies and books, with the intent of working on several renovation projects, including building and stocking a community library at the school.
Ambassadors worked directly with Partners in Health, a Boston-based organization working in Rwanda to promote health and long-term positive changes in this rural community.
Check out Echo’s curriculum on Rwanda here.
2008: Rwanda
13 years following the end of the genocide, Rwanda was a place of hope and optimism, dedicated to promoting democracy, an improved standard of living, economic stability, safety and peace for all citizens. Collaborating with the Rwandan Ministry of Health, was Boston-based organization, Partners in Health, established by Dr. Paul Farmer, to promote health and long term positive changes in the rural communities. Echo Footsteps Ambassadors joined Partners in Health, learning about genocide, personal responsibility, and the profound impact one person can have on the life of another.
2007: In the Footsteps of Elie Wiesel
Our flagship Footsteps journey, a two-week educational tour, brought 12 students from Romania to Poland and to France, following in the footsteps of Nobel Laureate for Peace and Holocaust survivor, Elie Wiesel. These students visited Wiesel’s hometown of Sighet, Romania, Auschwitz in Poland, the Holocaust memorial in Berlin, Germany, and other sites of importance.
View the curriculum, In the Footsteps of Elie Wiesel: A Documentary Project, here.