Thursday, March 26, 2009

Back to Volunteering -- Monthly Service Projects!

As I mentioned, I just got from ASB and came back to work this Wednesday. Right away, I had more service to do! I planned a small volunteer trip for our students Wednesday night. As part of our Monthly Service Projects program, our office organizes service projects for UMass Boston students once a month. This month we found ourselves at The Boston Living Center , an all around resource center for persons living with AIDS or HIV. We were there to serve dinner! Myself and 2 other UMass Boston students came and we worked with Franklin, the cook, in the kitchen. We prepared the dinner for the evening, making sure the food was ready to be put out. I got to serve at the juice bar and admired the variety of juice and other beverages available to clients. The students served the food to clients. We also got to try the awesome pesto pastas and cooked spinach. I really fell in love with the place and how well it is run. At the end of the night Bianca, one of the students, expressed her desire to continue volunteering there on a long term basis. That is a great success for me, as finding students long term service opportunities that match their interests is not necessarily an easy process.

I hope you future and present MACC AmeriCorps*VISTAs will make your way there! It is a great place to volunteer!

~Erika

Post Alternative Spring Break

I had quite a week last week, a week that is hard to put into words. After about 6 months of planning, Alternative Spring Break actually occurred. Ever since I was a student, I've found myself spending time planning and eventually going on ASB trips doing hurricane relief and rebuilding. Three years ago, I found myself in New Orleans leading a group of 11 other students on a Habitat for Humanity build in East New Orleans. Last year, I ended up in Waveland, Mississippi working on a house with a homeowner the entire week with 17 advisers and students. This year, with 12 students from UMass Boston, we made our way to Galveston, TX. We worked so hard the entire week.

Day 1 and 2 we gutted a house in Galveston for Ida, a retired nurse. She returned the favor by taking us all out to Golden Corral, a southern buffet chain (YUM). Day 3 we led students in replanting beach grasses on the beach (thanks to Artist Boat, a nonprofit based out of Galveston) in hopes of keeping the dunes together and growing (more than 15 feet washed away in the storm). We also painted primer on Rosa's home, another Galveston resident. Day 4 we found ourselves trekking out to Surfside Beach, a local beach community and hot spot for summer vacationers in TX. On the drive to Surfside we saw businesses, homes, and the road (we drove on the beach 3/4 the way) utterly destroyed. While in Surfside, students worked on painting and power washing the deck of the local town hall, and a smaller group put up sand fencing to help protect and rebuild the dunes. We returned Friday to paint Rosa's home with a final coat (Avocado green!).

While having this experience was the highlight of my year -- it was physically and emotionally draining all at the same time. I led reflections at night and slept little. I'm still tired today, I haven't had much time to recover. We AmeriCorps*VISTAs are always on duty!

We had fun too though! We checked out Nasa and the Kemah Boardwalk, went to the largest Rodeo in the US, and got a glimpse of the waters around Galveston on an air boat tour. Lastly, we ate so much good food (seafood, burgers, Sonic -- there are no Sonics in MA!). I miss TX and want to go back and help more, but I know that I felt better being able to serve alongside fellow AmeriCorps members there -- I met a fellow Maryland Campus Compact AmeriCorps*VISTA and our amazing AmeriCorps*NCCC Leader Aparna while in TX.

I'm sharing a few videos of the experience on YouTube more are to come!


Yours in Service,

Erika

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

FSC has an Alt. Spring Break Weekend Get Away!

This past weekend, I took a group of nine students to Holyoke, MA to work on the farm at Nuestras Raices. This was the first Alternative Break trip of any kind for Framingham State College, which is why we decided to stay pretty local and also why we chose to just do a weekend. Given the culture of Framingham State students, this was also the best fit. That culture being one of very hard working students, who often use their spring break as a means to work extra hours and earn a good chunk of money.






I was really excited about the trip because not only was it new to me and FSC, but the 9 students who came on the trip were all very new to volunteering in general. I would say about 2 or 3 of them had any experience volunteering, and it was amazing to see the transformation in them just over two days. On Saturday morning, when asked why they were there, their answers were all pretty identical to each other's, "I wanted to do something different for spring break" or, "I like helping people." Very generic, very basic...not very thoughtful. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little disappointed as we went around the circle and I heard one after another repeat the same answer. However, I was really proud and touched on Sunday afternoon during our final reflection when their answers were all very unique and thought out. Each one of them showed with their responses in our reflection activity a personal attachment to the work they did over the weekend and a better understanding of why it mattered. I'd say this was probably my first proud moment as an advisor to college students, and I really loved it. I even love thinking about it now two days later!


On our trip we did a lot of great work. Half our group plotted out land for the farmers, and half the group cleaned up and took an inventory of tools in the sheds. The second day we moved a whole bunch of frame pieces for a new greenhouse they're building. We got a lot of work done in a very short period of time, and the people at the farm were very grateful for it.


I have to admit that while this project has definitely not been my favorite part of my AmeriCorps*VISTA year so far, I am very pleased that I decided to take it on. Looking back, it caused me a lot of stress and I remember thinking repeatedly, "I can't wait until this is all over." Don't get me wrong, I'm glad that it's done with and have a huge feeling of relief because of that. However, even though it's not something I necessarily loved doing, it was a really great opportunity for me to gain a lot of skills that I didn't have before. Logistical thinking and being very detail oriented are not necessarily two of my stronger points. In planning any kind of trip, those two skills are very important and so I definitely appreciate the opportunity to fine tune those areas of my skill set.



I'll close with some photos of our trip - Enjoy!!