When a group of Vandals hop on a plane and leave Moscow to participate in the Alternative Service Break program, things change. Grades and classes leave the brain, stereotypes disappear and personal conflicts become less important.
George Wood Jr. | Argonaut
University of Idaho Alternative Service Break Volunteers Steven Elsbury and Susana Ruiz-Gallegos walk back from a day of playground games
in Cai Cay, Peru. Volunteers worked on multiple projects and entertained children at a daycare center in Cai Cay.
Four groups of UI students volunteered two weeks of their winter break to complete service work in Peru, Pittsburgh, Romania and San Francisco. Students dealt with social issues such as poverty, food insecurity, depleted housing, the environment and education. ASB Student Coordinator Andrew Blake said while partaking in service projects requires great sacrifice, it’s also incredibly rewarding. Applications for spring ASB — where students travel and serve in domestic locations for a week — can be found at uidaho.edu/volunteer and are due Friday.
Students were asked to document their service trips by keeping journals of their daily activities. Get a glimpse of what it’s like to participate in ASB through the following original journal entries submitted by students while they were on their service trips in Romania, San Francisco and Peru earlier this month.
Cody Riedner — San Francisco
Looking back on all of this: Glide, Open Hand, Fran Squad and the multitude of people and personalities associated with each of these groups, I find myself getting quite overwhelmed. I am feeling so lucky to be surrounded by such passionate, empathetic and thoughtful people and organizations, and now have the ability to take the lessons learned in this fantastic city back to our own fantastic town. It’s clear to me now more than ever that service does not require an exotic location or even a change in scenery. It simply requires an understanding, filled with love and empathy and passion, for people, regardless of any identifying factors. I hope to bring this philosophy home to Moscow, because I know that there is no limit to the amount of compassion and love in a community. It simply requires action.
Steven Elsbury — Peru
I believe that the real worth of this trip is that we are contributing in some way, however small, to a project that provides an escape for children in tough situations. We are contributing to an organization that could provide that life-saving motivation to someone low. That right there makes it (the trip) worthwhile to me because we could indirectly help to save a life in the same way that some of our have been. In my mind the real glory goes to Ernesto, Dina, Manfred and Sophia because of how much of a long-term difference they make. But what we are doing is still helpful and necessary to enable the real heroes. As our United Planet hosts say, ‘Individually we are one drop. Together we are the ocean.’
Tyler Tennison — Romania
Over winter break I traveled with 13 other students and two advisers to the Eastern European country of Romania. We worked at an organization called Pro Vita, which was started in 1991 by the Orthodox Church to help the displaced children and others after the end of Communism in the early 1990s.
Our task was to aid in the day-to-day lives of the people at Pro Vita and help finish up construction on a home for the teenage girls. In our time we were fully immersed into Romanian life including their language and other cultural aspects and this brought us close to the people of Pro Vita and each other.
My alternative service trip was the ultimate learning experience and it would have been entirely different without the amazing group I was with. Romania is a beautiful place filled with so much history, and I will be forever impacted by the people I met and the time I spent there.
Sierra Pagel — Romania
Leaving Pro-Vita is going to be difficult. Not seeing the kids, the people and my team is going to be something that won’t come easy. Over these past two weeks, I have learned so much about Romania, the loving people who live here, and the people who are on this incredible trip with me.
Before coming here, I was somewhat nervous because I was literally traveling around the world with people I have only known for a short period of time. Fortunately, I lucked out and was placed with the most intelligent, hard-working, inspirational and loving people I have ever met. The team made the trip that much more incredible and a wonderful experience that I will never forget.
I know it sounds so cliché but it truly was an experience of a lifetime. I am struggling to put into words how much of an impact these people have had on my life in this short amount of time.
Since we had such a solid team, it was easy to bond with them, and get a lot of work done in the village. We were able to easily complete all of our tasks each day, and we were then able to spend time with the children of Pro-Vita. Even though one might see these kids as underprivileged and maybe not as up to par as the average American kid, I learned so much from them. They were so eager to get to know us and learn as much as they could from us. Many knew several languages, and could speak English quite well.
I will miss playing with the kids, and laughing with them because I would pronounce something wrong in Romanian. I will miss helping Vio cook in the kitchen where she would teach us all the true meaning of being a strong and powerful woman. I will miss waking up and hearing the laughter of my team while eating breakfast every morning. I will even miss the cat that was carrying around a whole family of fleas.
Living in Pro-Vita certainly would be no easy task. The water was freezing if you could get the shower to work, you had to watch out for the mangy dogs, and do daily chores to make sure everything was running smoothly. However, I wouldn’t trade this experience for anything. I am so glad I applied for this trip, and I am so grateful to have been chosen to go on this life-changing trip.
Jessica Darney — Peru
Greetings from Peru!
Feliz dia de Cai Cay! Today is the 157th anniversary of the little village of Cai Cay. We started the day off by celebrating the beautiful landscape around us by going on a hike. My teammates discovered a tarantula and a human skull! We also saw dozens of cacti and learned that the locals put their initials in the soft tissue because when it scars, it is said to be permanent.
Back at Fe Yunca Puncu (the project we stayed at) we ate the usual egg and pan with oatmeal drink for breakfast then got to work! Todays tasks included painting the inside of the school, sanding the outside of the school to prepare for painting, cementing rocks into place outside the project, and my favorite: trash cleanup.
For the trash clean up we went in pairs around the block picking up everything from broken glass bottles to baby doll arms. I particularly liked this job because my partner and I could explore Cai Cay and really get to know the town. We went down to the river and cemetery-places the locals visit often. We saw many locals who asked what we were doing and smiled when we answered basura (trash).
Then we had to say our goodbyes to the niños of Fe Yunca Puncu. It was sad to see them go because over the last couple days we got to know them quite well. Each one got a shirt or shorts, sunglasses and a piece of candy. They deserve a great life and it was sad to know I probably wouldn’t ever get to see them again.
In the evening, we went to the towns annual celebration of Cai Cay day. We watched some cultural music and dance, and even got pulled into the dancing! The dancers grabbed half of the team to come dance with them! We also met another group from the USA, which felt funny because we hadn›t seen any other tourists until then.
Well, tomorrow we are leaving to Cuzco and Macchu Picchu! Wish me luck!
Annemarie Jayo — Peru
I think we’ve all begun to realize how humbling of an experience this truly is. I often ask myself if we are doing more for Cai Cay, or is Cai Cay doing more for us? I think everyone has become more grateful from this whole experience. Only the people who have the opportunity to be a part of something like this can really understand when I say it is life changing.
Alonso Arteaga — Peru
This trip taught me to never give up and to help others, that it is not just about me but the people. The children in this village are amazing and watching how they appreciate everything they have. It changed my life by wanting to do more and to do so it empowers me to further my education and hard work. To be able to come back and help because these children are important and they all have dreams. Dreams that will become a reality with the help of others along their journey.
Jessica Marboe — Peru
This trip has been amazing. The growth I have experienced over the last 14 days has been incredible. I have gained so many valuable life lessons over the trip. The people of Cai Cay were incredible. I can honestly call them my family. I love them and respect them for their positive and spirited attitudes even with all they are going through with financial issues, health issues, etc.
Susana Ruiz Gallegos — Peru
I learned so many things during this volunteering opportunity. The most significant was how much of an impact volunteering can have on a community. I saw that influence more on the children than the adults. We provided them with friendship and playmates, as well as teachers here in Los Molinos. Service has united us as a family and for that I am grateful.