2010 - Trip Descriptions

The UMass Civic Intefaith Alliance Alternative Spring Break program is the oldest ASB at the university. It is an ndependent study in community service learning that combines the exploration of personal heritage and values with the study of social justice struggles in the United States. In this course, student-facilitated seminars prepare teams to serve over Spring Break in communities to the south, on such projects as home construction, after-school tutoring, and community development. This year we plan trips to Louisiana and the Carolinas. In addition to the trip, the course requires weekly readings and reaction papers, an overnight retreat, journaling, and final paper. Students interested in registering must first complete an application (available here) and interview with facilitators. Although there is no proselytizing associated with the class, we encourage exploration of the relationship between traditions of civic and religious values and issues of social justice. We hope that this experience will become a step in a longer journey of commitment to social outreach and activism.

Below is some information on the course offerings this year, as well as the application. Acceptance into the program is determined by rolling admission, so get your application in as soon as possible. Students applying before Nov. 15th are most likely to get their first-choice trips and confirmations before the end of the semester. The regular deadline is Dec. 15. The final deadline is January 15th.

Course Specifics and Trip Descriptions:

Cost for travel expenses, food, and class readings is approximately $200. Teams take responsibility for fundraising for donations to the community, etc. Meetings include orientation plus six 2-hour classes. There is a MANDATORY overnight retreat typically held in early February.

Louisiana

ASB teams have served in Dulac, Louisiana, ten miles from the Gulf of Mexico, since 2007.  Dulac Community Center (DCC) serves an area that is very low-income, populated mostly by Houma Indians.  Leading industries are fishing
and shrimping.  March is semi-tropical and hot. The DCC offers comprehensive social, recreational & emergency services to the people of Terrebonne Parish with emphasis on the needs of the Native American population. Special emphasis
is given to the education and personal development of women, children and families. The gym is a popular meeting place in Dulac and numerous parties, dinners, dances, and celebrations are held there.  DCC programs include computer
classes, a Native American dance group, recreation programs for youth and families, a drug abuse prevention program, emergency food and clothing for the needy, and a volunteer program that seeks to improve the quality of life for residents through education, empowerment and enhancing the living conditions of the homes of low income, handicapped or elderly citizens.  An important part of the volunteer program is interpreting the culture of the Houma people to volunteers.  DCC stresses the need for kind, flexible volunteers who are willing to serve where they are most needed.  In addition to home painting and improvement, volunteers can work in a church pre-school, and teaching reading and computer skills.  Work teams stay in bunkrooms, prepare some of their meals, and arrange their own evening activities, which will include two excursions to New Orleans.

Carolinas

Work in Lumberton, NC is typical of many places  ASB has served, including the South Carolina Sea Islands or Birmingham, Alabama.   Robeson County is the poorest county in the state and home of the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina,, one of the largest Native American Indian communities east of the Mississippi.  The Robeson County Church and Community Center seeks to involve people across cultural, racial, class, and denominational barriers in partnership with each other to address social needs and to move toward solutions.  Service includes literacy work (individual tutoring in reading and computer skills for children and adults), senior citizen medical and nutritional assistance, emergency
assistance (household goods, clothing, utilities, medicine and food) and home construction and renovation.  Teams arrange for their own meals and stay in a local church.  Cultural education and involvement with the Lumbee community is
part of the experience.