More than 170 University of Western Ontario students, faculty and staff have embarked on service-earning experiences in eight different cities across North and South America as part of the Alternative Spring Break program.
Throughout Reading Week, students will be receive hands-on experience in medical clinics in San Jose, Costa Rica and Nicaragua, serving food bank customers in Winnipeg, Man., teaching English in Monte Cristi, Dominican Republic, rebuilding homes in New Orleans, La., and various projects with Cross Cultural Solutions in Guatemala City and Lima, Peru. Closer to home, a group of students will be working with community partners in London that support the local immigrant and refugee population.
The purpose of the Alternative Spring Break program is to provide Western undergraduate students with an out-of-classroom service learning experience that both complements and enhances the learning they receive in their respective academic programs.
The program started in 2003 with only five students, but has since grown in both its participant base and number of experiences offered to Western students.
In addition, Nicaraguan team leader Jeff Renaud, Media Relations Officer in the Department of Communications and Public Affairs at Western, is blogging about his experiences working with International Service Learning as they provide medical clinics in underserviced communities. The adventure will be documented on the Alternative Spring Break Blog. Similarly, students on his team will share their experiences in guest postings.
You can view the blog at https://atwestern.typepad.com/alternativespringbreak/.
Photos from the trip will also be updated regularly on Flickr at https://flickr.com/photos/atwestern/sets/72157613650774892/.
For more information on the Alternative Spring Break program, visit https://www.has.uwo.ca/housing/rlmt/asb/index.cfm.