Host community impacts: learning from the families of Habitat for Humanity’s Global Villages program in El Salvador

Abstract

ABSTRACT International experiential learning (IEL) benefits from recognising the needs and experiences of Southern hosts. Working with host families and in-country partners, our study finds that contrary to the broader critiques of the colonial character of such North–South relationships, community members shared largely positive assessments and experiences with the IEL program. While recognising the larger structural tensions in North–South engagement, we witnessed agency in the voices shared, that country and partnership context balances broader critiques, and that there is room for more effective inclusion of host community voices in our IEL programming to address North–South power differentials and promote deeper cultural exchange.