By James Irwin
One hundred and fifty George Washington University students and faculty members are spending this week in underprivileged communities, providing 6,000 hours of community service as part of GW’s Alternative Winter Break program.
The annual trips are organized by GW’s Center for Civic Engagement and Public Service. GW community members traveled to Costa Rica, Guatemala, Los Angeles, New Orleans, Nicaragua and Puerto Rico over the weekend. Each group is partnering with a locally based organization during their one-week service trip, and each is addressing specific issues in the community.
“Programs like GW Alternative Breaks and the rest of the programming through the Center for Civic Engagement and Public Service allow GW students to act on changing the world rather than just talking about it,” said senior political science major Mike Cuttler, who is making his third trip to New Orleans for post-Hurricane Katrina relief. “Our community service trips allow students to assist in underprivileged communities, both domestically and internationally, while learning about serious issues.”
Service in the six cities will focus on sustainability, gang intervention, constructing homes and schools, and teaching English to children. Five of the six locations are familiar for GW volunteers, as they involve return trips to communities the university has partnered with in the past. The university has been sending students and faculty to New Orleans, for example, for eight years.
“[That] demonstrates the commitment that GW and its students have to our community partners and to working on addressing significant issues like sustainability, rebuilding after a natural disaster and gang intervention,” said Sara Gruppo, director for GW’s Center for Civic Engagement and Public Service. “Issues of this magnitude require long-term work, and GW Alternative Breaks understands that a single week won't solve these issues, but over time significant impact can be made.”
The Alternative Winter Break trips run through the end of the week, with GW volunteers returning to campus Jan. 12 and 13.
GW Alternative Winter Break service locations
Costa Rica: Students are exploring issues of community empowerment and sustainability through projects such as installing eco-stoves in houses, working with youth in classrooms and exploring the rainforest.
Guatemala: In partnership with the local organization Long Way Home, volunteers are learning about sustainable construction by building a Mayan technical school.
Los Angeles: Volunteers are focusing primarily on L.A.’s at-risk youth, considering education, gang-violence and immigration, and are participating in programs that provide gang intervention.
New Orleans: GW volunteers are assisting with construction of homes in communities destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. They also are assisting teachers in their classrooms through the Knowledge is Power Program.
Nicaragua: Students have traveled to El Manzano Uno, a small, underserved coastal community in northern Nicaragua to help construct the village’s first high school, teach English to children and improve the town’s water-purification systems.
Puerto Rico: Volunteers are working with Plenitud Eco-Educational Initiatives to provide training, demonstrations, organic farming, natural building and other sustainable works.
Learn more about alternative breaks and other programs through GW’s Center for Civic Engagement and Public Service. Follow GW Alternative Breaks on Twitter at @gwaltbreaks.