Month: January 2015

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Day 1: Team SUPER

Today our team settled into our accommodations at a hostel in Queens, grabbed a bite to eat, and immediately dived into an education component of our trip! We took a trip to El Museo Del Barrio in Spanish Harlem and gained a deeper appreciation and understanding of hispanic culture. Many of the art pieces in the gallery expressed the dissonance between the oppression and poverty experienced by much of the Latin American population in New York City and the great beauty and heart that can still be found in these communities.

The trip set the tone for our reflection later in the evening, as we discussed what we know of the challenges that face urban education, what we hope to learn, and what we’re looking forward to! I personally am really looking forward to meeting the kids that we’ll be working with at the charter school and speaking with the school’s staff and administrators. It seems like the school is really committed to emphasizing the importance of education, so it’s excited that we’ll be able to aid in their effort to foster a love for learning.

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ASB: Hope is Vital (Pre-Trip Part 2)

We have all arrived in Boston and checked into our hostel! We’re right in the heart of the Theatre District and only a stone’s throw away from Chinatown; I can step outside the hostel and see restaurants and pubs in either direction for blocks. It’s good to be in Boston. It’s my first time in Boston, so I’m excited to get some meaningful exposure to the city. We have time set aside tomorrow and Monday to go sightseeing, so I’m looking forward to getting a real feel for the city. The Commons, Bunker Hill, the Museum of Fine Arts, the USS Constitution, the whole nine yards.

As excited I am to see everything this great city has to offer though, I am even more thrilled to begin our service with Community Servings on Tuesday. Providing assistance to those afflicted with HIV is a noble endeavor, and to be a part of such a cause, even for a few days, is rousing. As we perform our service and help with the meals, I hope, in particular, that we will learn more about the specific circumstances surrounding the lower-income individuals in Boston who have HIV (Community Servings clientele). Theirs is a unique experience, and also one that I have little knowledge of or experience with. Anyway, dinner will be ready soon (thanks to Barbara for tonight’s dinner!), so I’m going to attend to that! Expect more from my teammates as the week progresses!

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Land of the Free – Pre Post

I am currently sitting with my team in the airport waiting to board the plane and it still hasn’t set in that we’ll be in El Salvador in less than 6 hours.  I am so excited to just see another part of the world and to interact with the people there. I am so excited and I cannot wait to help out the community but also to learn from them. I see this trip as an opportunity to learn how others around this world live. With the research I have already done about El Salvador I have begun to see a lot of my privilege and believe it is crucial to expose yourself to more places to see how the rest of the world lives.  As an American and seeing globalization and the affect my country has had on the world around us, I believe that it is also my job to be just as influenced and affected by the rest of the world around me.  I see this as an opportunity to learn more about immigration issues and the daily struggle that people live with in El Salvador but also to just interact in the community and help out in whatever way I can be. I can’t wait until we get there and I know this will be a trip that will have a lasting impact on me.

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Land of the Free!

It is currently 1:15 AM, and although I am supposed to be on my way to the airport in about three hours, I find it impossible to sleep. I woke up at 6 this morning in an attempt to make the chances of me falling asleep earlier tonight a little higher, but I had a feeling that would not happen. I am beyond excited to embark on this journey with my team tomorrow. I will be exposed to a world that I have never seen before, and I hope to not only have some sort of impact on Santa Ana, but I hope that it has an impact on me as well. After spending over a month at home with my family and preparing for this trip, I realize how truly blessed and privileged I am. In my reflections prior to the trip, I have thought a lot about the idea of social change and what it takes to change an entire community, let alone a country. I know that our week-long visit does not have the power to do nearly any of that, but I can only hope that it will make as large of a difference as the effort and passion that I put into it. I hope that this trip ignites me to further my thinking on this topic, and become more aware of myself and my role in my community. I am so excited. ¡Buenas noches amigos!

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ASB: Hope is Vital (Pre-Trip Part 1)

Here I sit in Gino Warnick’s suite in Fisher West with Justin Morales and Barbara Olivier, two of my teammates for ASB Hope is Vital. As I type out this blog post, my mind continuously returns to the prospect of me going on my second ASB trip. I’m no ASB rookie anymore, but I still look forward to the coming trip with as much excitement as I did for my first ASB excursion. While I have steadily gotten to know my teammates over the past several months in our team meetings, I look forward to really getting to know them all on the trip. By spending the next week with them, not only doing service with Community Servings and reflecting on our experiences but seeing the sights and embracing everything the city of Boston has to offer, I hope (and think) we will all grow closer together.

Of course, ASB is more than just a chance to get to know people, and I am especially interested in learning more about HIV/AIDS (our social). I’d say more, but we are leaving for Boston around 9AM Saturday morning (this morning now), so I should probably get to bed. Expect more commentary once we reach Boston!

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We leave in, like, 8 hours!!

Since the first alternative break trip I took three years ago I have dreamed of this moment. I always knew that I wanted to take a team to El Salvador on an ASB trip before I graduated from Lafayette, and here I am, eight hours from the beginning of this journey. As compared with other members of my team, I have a really good idea of what to expect from this trip. I have been to El Salvador six times to do similar service work, and I already know a lot of the people we will be working with this time around. What’s different for me is that I have never helped to lead a team there in the capacity I am now. This reality makes me incredibly nervous, but also incredibly excited to see what my amazing team will accomplish in the next couple of days.

Cesar Chavez once said, “Once social change begins it can not be reversed. You cannot un-educate the person who has learned to read. You cannot humiliate the person who feels pride. You cannot oppress the people who are not afraid anymore.” This social change is what I hope my team discovers during this trip. Though it will be a heartbreaking, eye-opening, sometimes painful experience, the lessons learned from doing service work with those in developing nations is an experience that you can’t ever forget. I hope in attending this trip there is a fire lit in people’s hearts, and they will understand what it means to be privileged in our society. I also hope they discover that they are always capable of promoting change.

As we board our flight early tomorrow morning, I will brace myself for a rewarding and unforgettable experience. I hope it will be a reminder to me of what it means to be an active citizen and advocate for those who cannot themselves.

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Land of the Free: Pre-Trip Reflection Post

Many thoughts drift through my mind as look forward to tomorrow’s flight to El Salvador. While I have spent some time reading about El Salvador over break, I imagine it is a totally different experience to be immersed in the community once there. This trip will be a great opportunity to do something for the community in El Salvador as we learn in greater depth about the issues that affect it. I will approach the Land of the Free trip with an open mind and come back with a border understanding of the world–with knowledge that I can use to promote positive change in the world. So even though I’ll have to wake up early tomorrow, I am eager to find out what I will learn and to perform community service in El Salvador.

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Antes del Viaje a El Salvador

I am so excited to go on my 3rd and final ASB trip. We have a great team and and a great opportunity to help people in a region that desperately needs it. I am excited to help these people out and learn more about I culture I have never experienced.  El Salvador is stricken by poverty and violence and I am curious to see the attitude of the people and how they feel about their community as well as how the team and me deal with this community. Furthermore, one of our projects will be to build a house that can be packed up and moved if necessary. I am intrigued by this concept and am interested to see what that finished product will be like. Despite the early flight, I am anxious to go on what I’m sure will be a great trip! Stay tuned to the ASB blog as well as our social media pages for updates!

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Land of the Free: Pre-Trip Reflection

Having read the trip itinerary, I could not be more excited for the trip to start tomorrow. The planned activities provide a perfect balance between community service and cultural immersion. It is important to not only help the community, but to also understand the community’s hardships. While gathering some of the extra provisions needed for the trip such as bug spray and a Cipro prescription was a little inconvenient, it is a reminder of how lucky I am that my worries for the trip are preventable and I have the means to do so. Others are less fortunate. They have to face widespread violence and poverty daily. During the trip, I am eager to do be exposed to these circumstances and do my part in helping. Thankfully, I have a really great team to do this with and I can’t wait to get to know them better.

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Shell Shock Update

Team Shell Shock has arrived safely at their destination.  I received email confirmation of their arrival from our community partner, and I also spoke with a very tired team leader after their lunch.  She assured me of their safe arrival and was ready to rest after a long day of travel.  I will post additional updates when available.