University of Wisconsin Oshkosh students continue to make an impact in communities that require assistance following natural disasters, those that are impoverished or have a pressing need. Many students take time to complete service projects and unplug during Alternative Break trips away from school.
The final push to the end of semester is on, but it’s worth reflecting on the good deeds that took place during recent trips.
Students went to Puerto Rico Jan. 26-Feb. 2 to help with hurricane recovery; to Arches National Park , Utah, March 23-30 to help with park projects and clean-up; to Black Mountain, North Carolina March 23-30 to work with local agencies that serve communities; and to St. Louis, Missouri, March 24-29 to work with neighborhood revitalization. A fifth alternative break trip takes place May 22-29 in Honduras, as UWO students will work with the nonprofit Organization for Youth Empowerment, focused on increasing the number of students completing their education.
Positive impacts
“We were able to accomplish a lot, specifically with the vegetation/grasslands team at Arches National Park,” said Greg Batton, assistant director of programs with Student Recreation at UW Oshkosh. “Our projects included installing ConMods (connectivity modulators) that assist with providing structure and support for the seeding of natural vegetation, planting willow stalks/shoots to assist with water run-off and drainage through a flash-flood area and weeding of invasive species near the entrance.”
Batten said students “unplugged” and instead built intentional conversations around the ideas of silence, solitude, stillness and community. “It was awesome to see these students respond and connect to one another in a much different way than happens on campus.” Batten said.
Nicole Bellcorelli, program adviser for campus and civic engagement at UW Oshkosh, was one of two chaperones who traveled with 13 UWO students to Puerto Rico to assist in recovery from Hurricane Maria.
She said students learned a lot of life lessons.
One of them told Bellcorelli that after listening to the Puerto Rican people who lived through the worst of the hurricane, students realized the value in the little things of life. The Puerto Rican people were grateful to be alive. The experience opened the students’ eyes as to how fragile life is.
UW Oshkosh junior biology major Hailey Drager, of Markesan, said the trip involved a lot of hard work helping people in Puerto Rico recover from Hurricane Maria. Students replaced windows, painted the interiors and exteriors of homes and planted trees in a nature reserve.
“Everywhere that we helped, we learned a lot about the people and their experiences during the Hurricane,” Drager said, adding that she has a lot of good memories shared with others on the trip.
“You really bond with each other after a hard day of work and talk about how you feel,” she said. “I loved our reflection talks after every day—to see what we enjoyed the most and compare to each other.”
Drager, who hopes to someday have her own horticulture/landscaping business, said she would welcome the chance to go back to Puerto Rico or another country in need.
Students noticed how positive and supportive the people were, despite their difficult situation. The UWO group helped an elderly woman whose home had sustained serious damage and who was without power for six months. The lessons learned were to not get upset over little things and not to take things for granted.
May Honduras trip will assist youth
Nine students and an adviser from UW Oshkosh are planning to travel to volunteer in El Progreso, Yoro, Honduras, as part of the Alternative Break Program.
Each year, the UWO group collects supplies to take with them to donate while they are assisting partner group, Organization for Youth Empowerment (OYE).
OYE works with young people to break the cycle of poverty through education and keeping youth in high school and college.
“For youth in this area, going to college is by far the exception rather and the rule, and the cost of supplies and transportation can be prohibitive,” said Missy Burgess, associate director for student involvement at UW Oshkosh, who will travel with the students.
How to help
This year’s “wish list” includes pens, pencils, pencil sharpeners, erasers, scissors, glue sticks, crayons, markers, colored pencils, rulers, folders, paper clips and backpacks. Several large suitcases are needed to haul the supplies to Honduras.
Alternative Breaks, a program of Reeve Union Student Involvement, along with Student Recreation, sends teams of college students to engage in community-based service projects typically during winter or spring break. The program provides opportunities for students to learn about problems faced by members of communities with whom they may otherwise have little or no direct contact. The immersion in diverse environments enables students to experience, discuss and understand social issues in a significant way and move them toward action to make a positive impact.
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