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Today is our third day in El Salvador and it has been a complete blessing. I have already learned so much than what I have ever wanted to know. Reflecting from the home visits we had yesterday I was able to connect and understand with the families we are serving.

During this trip we are serving two families. Both families are beautiful and full of hope. Our group of fifteen split into two and began working on the two houses. My team and I worked with Jose’s family of two kids: Jose and Jaimie and their mother, Sylvia. This family is humble and very hard-working.

Today was the first day of actual construction and to be honest I was very surprised and happy for all the work we were able to accomplish. We were able to accomplish what was set to be done for the day and more! I was excited and nervous to start the houses mostly because I’ve never done anything like that and I wanted everything to be perfect.

All of the master carpenters were incredibly patient in teaching the group which was great. By the end of the day we were able to have the frame of the house, roof, and windows all done. It was very calming to see the house go from pieces of wood to an actual frame of of the house up and almost done.

One touching moment was seeing the two kids come back from school and willing to help with simple things such as handing nails and other tools to us. They seemed to appreciate what we were doing for them which made everything worth it.

If you are interested in helping in any form please feel free to visit the OPAT website for more information

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.

I am really excited and anxious to discover what lies ahead for the Shell Shock team and I in Costa Rica. I think that this trip will have in store for us great and new experiences that will become memories that will hopefully never leave us. Sea turtle conservation is such an important issue and one that unfortunately very few are aware of. I hope to take what I learn from this trip to do further good and service outside from our trip to Costa Rica. I intend to take full advantage of this trip and not shy away from new friends and adventure.

Although we will be working with other things than specifically sea turtle conservation, I am particularly looking forward to seeing the baby turtles! After packing and unpacking and repacking for the past couple of days I can honestly say that I have not been more eager about leaving the country. Costa Rica, here I come!

 

I’m extremely excited for this trip to begin.  I can’t wait to find out what exactly we’ll be doing to help the sea turtles and the local community.  The opportunity to assist in conservation of such a remarkable animal is amazing and I am so thankful that a program has been designed to do so, since it is such an important cause.  I wish it was Wednesday already so we could get started!

This year I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about ASB–how to expand our marketing efforts, increase alumni participation, enhance programming, etc. I’ve also been working on creating a Gala dinner to celebrate and promote the club’s 21 year history. The purpose of all of this work is to promote why ASB is such a fantastic experience–learning about a new social issue, being thrown out of “Lafayette’s bubble,” becoming friends with a group of people I might not have otherwise known on campus. I’m excited to be reminded of this powerful experience to which over 500 alumni and current students can relate.

My senior thesis, in part, looks at the effects of India’s waste problem. In our pre-trip education, we learned about the effects of ambient light (bad because it guides turtles in the wrong direction), trash (again, bad for killing turtles and/or effecting their migration pattern), fishing (bad–do you sense a trend here–because the sea turtles get accidentally caught in the lines or hooks). Like all social issues, sea turtle conservation is complex as there are cultural and economical forces also at play.

In sum, I’m excited to learn firsthand about this social issue and enjoy another ASB journey with Lafayette peers…And while getting to the airport at 4:15 AM will be rough, it surely will be worth it in the end!

Today I am anxiously preparing for my first ASB trip, which is to Costa Rica to participate and learn about sea turtle conservation. I am also really looking forward to immersing into the community and learning more about the people who are around us. My group is incredibly amazing and I am looking forward to getting to know them better, and I am anticipating knowing them well as we will all be staying in the same room for 10 days. I am excited about the free time we have to explore and learn more about the Costa Rican community. I am so grateful for this opportunity and will make sure to write about each of my days in my journal to keep these memories forever.

 

-M

Skimming a few of the previous posts, it’s apparent that there has been plenty said about the nature of our service work with Community Servings; so, rather than talk more about our volunteer work, I thought I would discuss the activities we did today outside of volunteering.  Following a 9 – 3:30 work day (we were let out early, woo!), we took the T back to our hostel to change quickly before heading off to The Institute of Contemporary Art.  Apparently, there is free admission every Thursday to the gallery there, so the majority of the group went to check out the exhibit and meet up with Claire, a Lafayette alum, at the museum.  While I personally am not huge on contemporary art, I knew it would be a good time with my team members and well worth skipping an afternoon nap.

After getting slightly turned around on the way to the museum (luckily we had Carly and Aubrey to figure out where to go), we made it and met up with Claire.  Because we are the awesome, and slightly goofy, group of people we are, we spent the first 45 minutes coloring at the museum before heading to see the art.  Once we did see the art though, we were quick to appreciate how incredible some of the pieces are.  While some were confusing to the average viewer, others were easy to see the intricacy required for such works.

Following the museum, we had some great talks and picturesque views of the Boston Harbor at sunset on the way to Cheers, a restaurant in Faneuil Hall, to meet up with the rest of our group.  Once at Cheers, we all indulged in some fantastic food, conversation, and even got to celebrate Carly’s ½ birthday and Julia Ben Asher’s ¼ birthday!  While we were all pretty excited about that, it was no comparison to the excitement for Mike’s pastries after dinner.  Mike’s pastries was a quick walk from Cheers and served some of the best pastries in Boston, with our group no doubt being their best customers of the night.  Stuffed and full of energy/sugar, the team trekked back to the hostel to call it a night.

While today was great, one of the main take-a-ways I have from not only today but this trip in general is that life is all about the people in it.  This group has really bonded this week, an example being the deep conversations we have on a regular basis to learn more about each other.  This communication has led us to get to know each other well, and made spending time together a blast.  I think we are all excited about our bittersweet last day at Community Servings tomorrow, but looking forward to heading back to Laf Saturday as well.