Serving and Learning Together (SALT)

Immerse yourself in a new culture, serve a community, gain real-world skills and grow in ways you never imagined.

A group of four young women smiling for the camera

What is SALT?

MCC’s Serving and Learning Together (SALT) program is a year-long cross-cultural experience for Canadian and U.S. citizens. It’s a chance to immerse yourself in another culture and grow in ways you never imagined.

Build skills
You’ll serve alongside local organizations that MCC partners with, supporting their work and gaining hands-on experience. The skills, knowledge and personal capacity you develop will exercise your faith muscles and set you up for success in your future career, wherever and whatever that may be.

Build relationships
You will integrate into a local community in a deeper way, building your intercultural skills. During your assignment you’ll live with a host family or in another communal setting. The relationships you form with your local community and church will be mutually transformative, supporting you and shifting your perspectives.

Build peace
You will also have a chance to live out your values, learning from and participating in local work around systemic issues like social justice, climate change, power and privilege. Simply put, it’s a chance to be part of something bigger, including MCC’s longstanding peace work.

Your time with SALT is not just a year abroad. It’s a chance to relate to the world in a new way, make mistakes, get messy and learn through trying. You’ll grow. You’ll experience the world. You’ll find purpose. You will Serve and Learn Together.

Read about the experiences of past SALTers in the SALT Yearbook.

Joia McManus, MCC SALT alumna, reflects on her time living and serving in Bolivia.

How much does SALT cost?

There is no program fee to participate in SALT.

You will need to cover costs related to a pre-service medical exam (required), optical/dental exams (optional), passport and visa expenses and any vaccinations relevant for the country where you are placed.

MCC covers all assignment-related costs. In order to help cover these costs and contribute toward the sustainability of the opportunities that SALT will afford you, we simply ask that you let your family, friends and faith community know you will be serving with MCC and encourage them to donate.

If you aren’t able to raise much, don’t worry! As long as you use the basic fundraising tools we provide, you can participate in SALT and will receive the same level of MCC support regardless of the amount you raise.

Assignment-related costs MCC covers include:

All basic needs related to assignment
(travel to and from assignment, food and household costs, housing, in-country transportation, etc.)
Full medical coverage (no co-pay)
Vacation days
Orientation and re-entry participation, including travel
MCC in-country meetings and retreat costs
End-of-term benefits

Frequently asked questions

Isaac Alderfer, SALT* participant in Mesang, Cambodia, transplants rice with his host family in a field near their home. The family produces enough rice each year to sustain themselves until the next

Explore SALT Assignments!

SALT assignments provide an opportunity to join the significant efforts of our local partner organizations as they work for relief, development, and peace in their own communities. Whether your interest is in a specific region of the world, specific country, type of work, or a language, there are numerous possibilities waiting to be explored.

Applying is the easy part – narrowing it down to a handful of assignments you would like us to focus on trying to secure for you during your SALT placement process will be the challenge!

SALT assignments

Joia McManus SALTer from Philadelphia helps Maria Elena Zurita Garcias (11) with homework at El Comedor de Niños, in Montero, Bolivia.The Comedor is more than an after-school centre for children in th

Building a legacy of peace

For over 40 years, SALTers have been building a legacy of peace as they learn from and participate in local work around systemic issues like social justice, climate change, power and privilege.

Are you ready to be part of that legacy?

Application process

Frequently Asked Questions

1981

the year SALT began

1,300+

individuals that have participated in SALT

125+

local MCC partner organizations SALTers have worked alongside

58

countries SALTers have been placed

SALT stories

Hear firsthand from SALTers who have served through the years. Read stories from young adults who gained new skills while contributing to MCC’s work, who became part of something bigger and were transformed in the process.