The welcome back by about six inches of snow in Denver on Saturday came as somewhat of a shock to volunteers from the Alternative Spring Break Program as they returned from their respective trips.
While students left for trips in very different locations, including Guatemala, Jamaica and New York City, they all had the same mission: to improve the communities they were visiting.
Sagan Hunsaker, Alternative Breaks Volunteer Coordinator was part of the group that volunteered in Trinidad and Tobago.
“We worked closely with the community and rebuilding its local park,” Hunsaker said.
“A big piece of it was also being immersed into the culture and working with the local women’s group,” she said.
Hunsaker also participated in last year’s trip to Belize. While all the trips have the same general theme, Hunsaker says the experiences do vary from year to year.
“The structure was different this year. This year we had to learn to be more flexible,” she said. “In the States if something starts at nine then we’re usually there by 8:45, but sometimes something was supposed to start at 8:00 and we didn’t start until 10:00. It really depended on when people could be there to help us.”
While the alternative breaks trips do require work on the part of the participants, the trips also allow for some downtime including sight seeing and participating in local activities, like kayaking for those on the San Diego trip.
However, Hunsaker said the volunteer experience is equally rewarding as the free time.“There are a lot of benefits to alternative break trips. I think there’s a better understanding of the larger community as a whole as well as a better understanding of the issues the community is facing, whether it’s environmental or social issues,” she said.
Hunsaker said that one of the best parts of participating in alternative breaks is getting to know people in the communities in which the groups are volunteering.
“It was really interesting to see how connected the community is to each other and how connected they were to us. The whole community really welcomed us and wanted to get to know us,” she said. “Trinidad is so isolated and it’s just really connected to each other.”
Members of the community even hosted a welcome dinner and a sendoff dinner for volunteers to show their appreciation for their work.
As far as participants in the trip, Hunsaker recognizes the fact that not everyone will see eye-to-eye with one another, but that should not stop people from participating.
“A group of 12 people who don’t know each other can come back with a new group of friends,” she said. “My advice would be to just be open and patient to getting to know people and letting them get to know you.”
