Douglas Keddy signed up as a team leader for the Alternative Spring Break not knowing what to expect.
While service-learning isn’t new for Keddy, travelling to Peru this spring taught him something about himself and the spirit of students at The University of Western Ontario.
Alternative Spring Break is a week-long community service learning experience for faculty, staff and students at Western. Organized by the The Student Success Centre: Careers, Leadership and Experience and Western Residence Life, the participants can travel to locations in Canada and abroad to volunteer.
This year, teams will be partnering with agencies in Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, New Orleans, Nicaragua, Peru, Winnipeg and London.
Keddy, research communications co-ordinator at Western, along with John Doerksen, Academic Programs and Students vice-provost, led a team of 20 students to the rural community of Urubamba, Peru, in May. The trip was rescheduled because a snowstorm grounded flights in February.
“I wanted the opportunity to work with other people and to lead a group of very dedicated students. My previous experiences working and volunteering internationally had been solo efforts,” Keddy says.
The group spent the week mixing concrete by hand to create the foundation for a second floor addition to a school. The trip also involved sightseeing (including a visit to Machu Picchu), and sharing reflections under the stars. “It was a lot of fun, physical labour,” says Keddy, noting the sense of elation when the school project was finished resounded throughout the team.
Students can still spend Reading Week at a sunny destination or hanging out with friends in London, but also give back to a community in need at the same time.
“These are some of our best students and they are committed to learning about the world and contributing to the world in a way that makes me completely proud to be at Western,” Keddy says. “My biggest learning was to discover just how committed so many of our students are to the greater world or to creating change or making a difference.”
“We offer ASB to Western students as an opportunity to gain out-of-classroom learning, an increased sense of civic engagement, and the ability to connect their experience with their academic studies and future career,” says Anne-Marie Fischer, acting coordinator, Student Engagement Programs at The Student Success Centre.
“By participating in community service learning, locally or internationally, students learn about different cultures, communities and social issues. They also learn from each other through facilitated reflection, and often return to Western excited about getting involved on campus, and in the London community.”
Faculty and staff benefit from interacting with students outside the classroom or office spaces, notes Fischer. “Leaders will return to campus re-energized about their work and looking for additional ways to be connected to campus life,” she says.
The ASB program has taken on new leadership this year, under the guidance of Fischer and Pamela Core, residence academic and programming co-ordinator for Western’s Housing and Ancillary Services. The pair intends to build on the successful model and look to create new community partnerships with organizations both locally and internationally in future years.
For the second year, ASB will offer financial assistance to participants, thanks to funding provided for community service learning by the RBC Foundation.
Deadlines to sign up for Alternative Spring Break are quickly approaching.
A faculty and staff information session will be held 4:30 p.m. Tuesday in the University Community Centre Room 147A. Faculty and staff team leader applications are due Oct. 6.
Student information sessions will be held 5:30 p.m. Oct. 5 and 6 in the University Community Centre Room 147 A/B both days. Student team leader applications are due Oct. 19 and participant applications must be submitted by Oct. 25.
For more information on ASB visit https://www.has.uwo.ca/housing/rlmt/asb/index.cfm or click on the QR code.