Alternative Spring Breaks
Last week, we told you about two of the Alternative Spring Break (ASB) trips UMBC students have the opportunity to go on, instead of opting for sun and sand. These week-long service trips introduce students to the broad range of challenges our society faces and teach them how they can help change things for the better. Here are the other projects where students will be doing amazing work – and YOU can help:
Clowning Around to Change Lives
West Virginia may not sound like much of a spring break destination, but this March, 15 UMBC students will spend their break at Patch Adam’s Gesundheit Institute in Pocahontas County, WV. Through the Gesundheit Institute ASB, students will interact with patients as they learn about the Patch Adams’ medical model – the belief that laughter, joy and creativity are an integral part of the healing process. Students will also study the Institute’s approach to social justice and lend a hand in maintaining the sprawling 300 acre campus.
Seeing Through the Eyes of a Refugee
Home. It’s a simple concept – a place where you belong and are cared for, a place you return to over and over. But it’s a place that has been ripped away from refugees who have been forced to flee home. And despite the overwhelming numbers of refugees around the world, very few people know about or understand the plight they face. For a group of UMBC students, that’s about to change. During the Through the Eyes of a Refugee ASB, students will be introduced to the realities faced by those living as refugees. They’ll spend a week with refugee adults, high-school refugee students and their families and ultimately witness the strength and courage of refugees living in the Baltimore area.
Making Connections, Building Friendships
In our society, intellectual and developmental disabilities are often misunderstood and stigmatized. But we believe that the best way to understand other people is to get to know them, and that’s what this trip is all about. Through the ARC of Carroll County ASB, students will a unique chance to challenge and overcome the common stereotypes and prejudices that people with intellectual and developmental disabilities face. Students will develop meaningful relationships with the clients at The ARC as they work together on projects and make one-day trips to the humane society and even the mall. They’ll hear first-hand accounts about and deepen their understanding of what life is like for someone with a disability.
How Can You Help?
These will be special trips; the kind that students will remember for life. But they need your help to get there, quite literally.
Donations will go directly to the costs of the spring break service learning experience for 15 UMBC students. All donations collected will be used for supplies, lodging, food and transportation during the 2013-2014 ASBs. Thank you for your support!
