For this reason and many others, part of each participants work with the IICD is to share what you have learned abroad in many ways. During the preparation period you and your group plans which products you want to create. You might plan writing a book about street children, making a video about farm workers, a photo exhibition about women, a series of articles or a slide show on CD-ROM about life in a village. During the international period, you work on the product or you might add new products, inspired by your experiences overseas. If your plan is well designed you might come a long way towards finishing the project.
All groups have one or two months follow-up period at the school in Massachusetts.
Back in the US, you become an educator. The program has given you and your group a unique chance of learning first hand from working and sharing with people in a developing country. This privilege gives you the obligation to share the experience with others - and you discover that as you educate others you yourself learn new things about the country and people you visited which did not catch your attention in the first place. You will probably combine the work on your product with a number of live slide presentations to diverse audiences in places such as elementary schools, community colleges, civic clubs, prisons, soup kitchens or churches. Thereby you gain a better understanding of how to present your knowledge and visions to an audience.