Community Outreach Program (COP) is an international service-learning program of
Petra Christian University which has drawn many overseas students from the Netherlands,
South Korea, Hong Kong, Japan, and Taiwan.
COP provides students with a multicultural environment to learn and to serve as a team
in a village where the cultural background is different from them. This paper reports the
study on reflection journals written by 51 students from Indonesia and overseas. The
students’ answers in the journals revealed the students’ initial expectation in joining COP,
their views about the village and its villagers, and the other participants’ culture. Students’
views about the village changed over time from negative to positive. It was also found that
students faced more difficulties in communicating with fellow students of different
nationalities rather than with the villagers. Many also said that they have accomplished their
goals through participating in COP.
