University of Western Ontario students, faculty and staff gathered on March 19 to share their adventures at home and abroad during their Alternative Spring Break.
As a reel of images of smiling children and breathtaking landscapes rolled across the screen during the London Hall showcase, participants relived experiences rebuilding homes, working in medical clinics and an orphanage, sorting food at a food bank, and befriending strangers – including Western travelling companions – in London, Winnipeg, Louisiana, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Nicaragua and Peru.
More than 200 students, faculty and staff participated in this year’s program.
“I didn’t know any of these people before, but after the week we became so close,” says Sameer Shivji, a second-year Physiology student.
Shivji travelled to New Orleans, La. to work with Habitat for Humanity’s effort to rebuild the city after Hurricane Katrina.
As a first-year economics student, Arjun Gupta has read about stagnation in the city of New Orleans; however, he wanted to witness first-hand the social and economic destruction left in the wake of the hurricane.
“New Orleans has such a rich cultural background.”
He “found it very interesting” to see businesses that once flourished, such as many big box stores, boarded up and the parking lots left empty.
For Adrienne Wakabayashi, a second-year science student, the experience provided a lesson in people. She travelled to San Jose, Costa Rica to work in medical clinics in urban and rural communities.
“The most impactful for me was their blind trust,” she says. “It was a long process for each patient. The fact they would wait that long … it was amazing.”
Associate English professor Kim Solga signed up for the program to travel abroad for a teaching opportunity rather than a holiday and to challenge herself to step outside her comfort zones. She ended up in Peru where she learned to push herself in ways she didn’t expect.
“For me the most important discovery was I could be in physically and emotionally challenging situations and still be able to teach.
“I feel I saw the best of Western’s undergraduates,” she says.
Learn more about Alternative Spring Break at www.has.uwo.ca/housing/rlmt/asb/index.cfm.