Taking a break from school doesn't also mean taking a break from service, as hundreds of students showed last week through some unconventional spring break trips.

Whether it was on the beach in Florida, in the snow of Quebec or the heart of New York City, service-based groups organized multiple trips for students to give back to communities across the nation. Although Vanderbilt claims the largest Alternative Spring Break contingency among the more than 200 schools nationwide which have established chapters (the organization was founded here in 1987), several student groups organized "alternative" trips for the campus community, who participated in projects that varied as much as their locations.

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Arequipa, Peru

Manna Project International

It's often the children who suffer in the midst of economic turmoil, as one MPI group learned.

"The Manna Project service trip to Torre Feurte, a girl's orphanage in Arequipa, Peru, was an eye-opening experience for our entire group to the struggles of the developing world," said group member Wyatt Smith. "While government corruption, child neglect, and abject poverty are the norms in much of this beautifully scenic country, the children we encountered enjoyed running and playing just like kids in the industrial world, only they did so with a much greater appreciation for small gestures of kindness and recognition."

The group spent most of their time in Peru working on a playground area with the girls, Smith said.

And, as many groups echoed, returning home to America was the hardest part of the trip.

"After connecting so closely with so many spirited young girls recovering from the effects of abuse and neglect, our group found it very difficult to leave the girls' home," Smith said. "The experience deeply impacted many of us, and we return to the United States with a renewed appreciation for the many gifts we are blessed with and a commitment to continuing our support for the girls we met in Peru."

-Nikki Bogopolskaya contributed reporting to this article.

View a photo slideshow here.

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Brownsville, Texas

Alternative Spring Break: "That's Why God Made Mexico"

Life in a border town is more than a little different than life in the Bubble, this ASB group found.

Senior Taylor Imboden and sophomore Kathleen Fuchs led their group to the town of Brownsville, Texas, to serve the predominately Hispanic community.

"We served two different organizations and helped a very interesting youth population," Fuchs said.

At the group's first site they partnered with YouthBuild to build low-income homes for the community and "worked alongside teenagers who had dropped out of high school and were gaining construction experience while studying for their GED," Fuchs said. "At our second service site, we tutored and spent time with juvenile

delinquent boys in a program called La Esperanza, which means ǃÚhope.'"

The group experienced their share of Mexican culture, as well.

"Not only were we able to see the Brownsville community and South Padre Island, but we also crossed the border into Matamoros, Mexico when we walked across the bridge over the Rio Grande," Fuchs said. "Over the course of the week, we all developed a deep love for tortillas and the people we met in Brownsville."

View a photo slideshow here.

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Kyle, S.D.

Alternative Spring Break: "Hangin' Around"

In Kyle, S.D., students left the classroom and learned firsthand about the struggles American Indians have faced over the past two centuries.

There the ASB group worked with the Lakota Sioux and learned more about their people, said sophomore Leslie Esbrook.

"During the day we worked at a (kindergarten through eighth-grade) school on the reservation helping teach everything from computers to gym to geography," said Esbrook, who led with junior Pete Madden. "In the evenings we journeyed to houses of medicine men, elders and teachers on the reservation to hear their stories, while sampling the local fare (ǃÚfrybread') and bonding through reflection and storytelling."

Esbrook said the trip educated everyone in the group about the American Indians' hardships.

"The whole trip was an eye-opening experience into the disparities and poverty that exist on the reservation," Esbrook said, "the nascent alcoholism, lagging education system and lack of employment opportunities."

View a photo slideshow here.

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Managua, Nicaragua

Manna Project International

Some group members had been there before, but for most of the 12, it was their first experience of the impoverished communities of Nicaragua.

"I had never been to the third world," said senior Annabel Gould, "and the experience allowed me to grasp the type of poverty I have only experienced through photographs and lessons in class."

She said one of the more memorable moments of the trip came when the group visited La Chureca, the city dump that houses over 180 families.

"I saw horrific living conditions that I had never even fathomed to be possible," Gould said. "It was overwhelming to see so many people living in such a toxic environment."

Like many students on student-based trips, Gould said she gained a new perspective.

"My trip to Nicaragua allowed me to serve others and simultaneously grow as an individual," Gould said. "I gained a true sense of personal development. My newfound understanding for poverty and development in third-world nations has given me a new perspective on my own life and the inspiration to continue to bring aid to those who need it the most."

-Nikki Bogopolskaya contributed reporting to this article.

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Monterrey, Mexico

Alternative Spring Break: "A Dios Le Pido"

There were more barriers to break than just the border between Mexico and the United States.

"Between the language barrier and conditions of severe poverty, it soon became clear (to us) that ǃÚA Dios Le Pido' was no typical (Alternative Spring Break) experience," said junior Alyse Andalman, who led the site with sophomore Maeghan Wilson.

Group members interacted with members of impoverished community of Monterrey, Mexico, while working with Caritas de Monterrey, a Central-American equivalent to the Red Cross.

"Whether working to better the living conditions of some of Monterrey's poorest residents or spending time at the local orphanage in order to bring smiles to children's faces, all of the participants were particularly dedicated to the mission statement maintained by Caritas de Monterrey," Andalman said, which is to provide services and assistance for human and community development.

And the trip made such an impact on the group that they are going to continue working to help the community.

"We hope to continue the effort to alleviate such suffering on the grassroots level through continued service and donations to Caritas," Andalman said.

View a photo slideshow here.

 

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New Orleans, La.

 

Habitat for Humanity

 

Students with Habitat for Humanity went to do what many from New Orleans, La., never did: return to clean up the mess.

"Many parts of the city were still devastated from Hurricane Katrina," said sophomore Matt Bigger, "and you can see that many people never came back after they evacuated."

The group worked with the local Habitat affiliate to restore an area on which the organization had been concentrating its efforts.

"We stayed and worked out in St. Bernard Parish, about a 30 minute drive from downtown, working on putting up siding, caulking and painting for two different houses," Bigger said. "It was amazing to see how much further along the communities around the Habitat sites had come than in much of the city."

View a photo slideshow here.

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Pensacola, Fla.

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Quebec, Canada

 

Alternative Spring Break: "Voulez Vous Servir Avec Moi"

 

Site leaders Michael Funk and Nicole Simms mixed in a little European flavor with their Alternative Spring Break site, traveling to the Francophone Montreal, Quebec.

"Our ASB group also tried to experience a bit of Montreal culture by eating at local restaurants, exploring the Old City, visiting famous basilicas and speaking French with our service contacts," Funk said.

Here, freshman Sarah Bilsky paints junior Alex Garrett's face while the group plays with children of working families, something they did every day of the trip.

"We focused on helping package food and essential items for underprivileged families and also on working with children from working families, providing activities for the kids during their break," Funk said. "Most of our work was coordinated by the Sun Youth organization of Montreal, which is a huge presence in the city, helping feed and clothe the poor and keeping crime in the city low by bike patrols, working with the police and helping young people get involved with constructive activities like sports."

View a photo slideshow here.

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Quito, Ecuador

 

Manna Project International

 

They came to teach the children a little English and fix their playground. In turn, the students on the Manna Project International trip to Quito, Ecuador, learned about community.

The four-year-old MPI, which was founded at Vanderbilt, is quickly expanding its service efforts, featuring service trips to Peru, Costa Rica and Nicaragua, in addition to Ecuador.

The group explored the area on their time off, but they spent the majority of the trip interacting with the members of the community.

"Between teaching them English and literacy and helping them with their homework, we re-cemented, painted, dug drainage ditches and created a basketball, soccer and foursquare court for them to play on during recess," said sophomore Hannah Putin.

And their efforts paid off.

"Not only did everyone have a fantastic time seeing the sights, we left with tangible proof that our visit made a difference," Putin said. "In six days, we completed a playground and a casa barrial, or neighborhood gathering place, for the children that the Manna Project volunteers have been working with for the last six months. Seeing the faces of the whole community as they looked through the fences of the program area to watch us work to create a play-space for their children made the trip worth it."

-Nikki Bogopolskaya contributed reporting for this article.

View a photo slideshow here.

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San Francisco, Calif.

SPOTS

They sought to leave a mark - make that a SPOT - in San Francisco.

The Baptist College Ministries' annual service trip Service Projects Other Than Summer, "gives students an opportunity to leave the Vandy bubble over spring break and explore a new city through acts of service," said junior Karen Swetland, who led this year's trip.

And Swetland said SPOTS is a little different than other service missions.

"As Christians, our definition of service is not just to meet physical needs, but emotional and spiritual needs as well," Swetland said. "We volunteered with four organizations, packaging and serving food, playing with inner-city kids, and organizing donated clothing - but that was only one aspect of our ministry.

"We each had about 20 hours during the week set aside for ǃÚspontaneous ministry.' Some people went to Golden Gate Park to play drums with the hippies, ` some handed out sandwiches and socks to the people who live and sleep on Market Street, and some went down to the Castro District to interact with the homosexual population."

Swetland said this conversation is what makes the trip different.

"It wasn't about music or food or even broadening our horizons, it was about the opportunity to engage in conversation - the opportunity to understand and love these people, God's people," Swetland said. "We embraced the opportunity to blur the line between the one who serves and the one who is being served, because at the end of the day, we're all God's children and we all have a story to tell."

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Sonoran Desert, Tuscon, Ariz.

Alternative Spring Break: "Wide Open Spaces"

There's a lot to learn about cacti, Michael Putman's and Lauren Ring's ASB group found out on their trip to Tucson, Ariz.'s Saguaro National Park, which is in the Sonoran Desert.

"The Saguaro cactus is a protected species that grows only in the (Sonoran) Desert," Putman said. "It and other native desert species are also threatened by invasive species, such as Hoarhound. We helped remove some of these species in addition to our work on the trails."

The group worked to clean up the park and learned and practiced environmentally friendly camping habits.

"We worked with the National Park Service Trail Crews to clear trails of prickly pear cacti and other obstructions," Putman said. "This encourages hikers to stay on the trails and off of the desert fauna, such as the Saguaro cactus."

View a photo slideshow here.

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St. Paul, Minn.

Alternative Spring Break: "Get Up, Stand Up"

To learn about Tibet, they had to travel through St. Paul, Minn., first.

"The ǃÚGet Up, Stand Up' Alternative Spring Break site went to St. Paul to work with the Tibetan exile community," said co-site leader Brian Wile. "Minnesota has the second largest Tibetan community in America, and several large regional organizations are based in this area. We learned about Tibetan history, art, music, religion and government from the leaders of several of these prominent Tibetan community organizations."

And Wile, a junior, who led with senior Laura Stabin, said learning about another culture opened the group's eyes to often-unmentioned worldwide struggles.

"In the process we learned of the current struggle to preserve the Tibetan identity in the face of Chinese persecution, as well as current possible directions for the Tibetan community to both maintain its cultural identity and one day regain their homeland," Wile said.

View a photo slideshow here.

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Wellington, Colo.

Alternative Spring Break: "Welcome, This is a Farmhouse"

Six states later, senior Dusty Patil and junior Sarah Scott found themselves in "the middle of nowhere" Wellington, Co., with their ASB group.

At Harvest Farm, a Christian-affiliated, non-profit branch of the Denver Rescue Mission, not only did the students (like freshman Kaitlyn Ramon) interact with the farm animals, they interacted with the farm's unusual residents.

"Harvest Farm ... focuses on rehabilitating men with alcohol and drug addictions and then integrating them back into society," Scott said. "None of us could have imagined how grateful these men were to have us drive all of the way out there to spend a week of our time with them."

Through simple interaction, the students learned more about themselves by listening to the men's stories.

"We participated in every facet of everyday life with the residents," Scott said. "We worked alongside them and shared meals with them. We swapped good conversation, laughs and life stories."

And Scott said she found startling similarities between her life and the lives of the residents.

"They share the same struggles that we all do, (but) they just chose to express them in a different manner," Scott said. "I remember one of the guys saying, ǃÚYou know, the only difference between you and me is a few bad decisions.' It doesn't seem like an earth shattering lesson to learn, but I guarantee that it is one I will never forget."

View a photo slideshow here.

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Yosemite National Park

Alternative Spring Break: "Under Pressure"

Site leaders Lauren Eckhardt and Lee Kashdan led their group through one of America's most famous parks to learn about endangered species and efforts to save the ecosystem in Yosemite.

"Camping out in the snowy shadow of Half Dome, we mixed park restoration with outdoor recreation," said freshman Courtney Rogers. "For our service project, we rebuilt and painted picnic tables around Yosemite and the neighboring town of El Portal and inventoried the park's warehouse."

The group took advantage of the park's natural sites as well.

"In our free time, we hiked on trails such as Bridalveil Falls, Upper Yosemite Falls and Mirror Lake," Rogers said. "Through camping in the snow and eating more peanut butter and Nutella than I would care to own up to, by the end of our trip we had all made some new friends and enough inside jokes to keep us laughing all along the way."

V iew a slideshow from the trip here.