They serve for several months in areas such as public health, science programs, legal assistance, and heritage programs that help preserve traditional values of the region. Costa Rican professors and students work together in order to maximize the quality of services rendered as well as the learning outcomes of the experience. During the course of the year, about 2,000 students and 200 professors are involved in 100 different projects. The students keep daily diaries, and meet about once a month with NYS officials to review both their service activities and their learning experiences. Batswana students help in some of the poorest areas and become acquainted with the needs of villagers.
Many students maintain contact with their villages, returning years later for weddings and funerals.
For several decades, China has used military conscripts for public works projects, and has used the bait of jobs and housing to attract young people to volunteer for community service projects. Now, with declining numbers in the armed forces and still a lot of work to do, the system is opening up somewhat. It was reported at the 1998 Global Conference on national youth service that 50 million young people have given part-time service as members of the Chinese Young Volunteers Association since its founding in 1995. Some of these programs are on a scale larger than AmeriCorps and related programs in the United States. Nigeria, with a population less than half that of the U.S., enrolls some 70,000 recent university graduates each year in its National Youth Service Corps.