The ASUI Center for Volunteerism and Social Action at the University of Idaho is accepting applications for the Winter Alternative Service Break trips.
Bruce Mann, ASUI volunteer center coordinator, said ASB trips are an opportunity for hands-on learning.
“Some of the best experiences can come from out-of-class experiences, though these trips still compliment what is taught in the classrooms,” Mann said.
The winter ASB trips are scheduled from Dec. 27 to Jan. 8, 2013 in four different locations. Two UI teams will serve on an international level, one in Quito, Ecuador and one in Cai Kay, Peru, and two teams in the U.S. in Pittsburgh and Atlanta.
An ASB trip is a service experience centered around learning, said Maggie Hand, an Outreach and Recruitment Coordinator for the ASUI volunteer center. Students serve, but then discuss what they are doing and the impact of what they have seen.
“It is different than other service experiences,” Hand said.
Tony Ive, also a coordinator for the ASUI volunteer center, went on a winter trip to Ecuador and said it is a transforming experience.
“It is life changing,” Ive said. “I changed my major after my trip — I got a whole new perspective.”
Mann said the point of these trips is getting people to understand the value of being engaged citizens.
According to Mann, each trip focuses on certain aspects of volunteering. The Georgia trip is based around homelessness and hunger, and students will prepare and serve food throughout Atlanta, along with multiple other projects.
Students who go to Pennsylvania will learn about poverty, racial and housing issues, while working with Rebuilding Together to redo houses, mostly for elderly citizens.
In Peru, students will focus on education and community development, and work with Mi Caleta to try and get children off the streets, while also doing projects to help benefit the community.
The team going to Ecuador will spend half of their time as mentors learning about poverty and education, and the other half learning about sustainability.
Mann said they choose the people going on the trips very carefully. Applications are scored, and people are interviewed and asked questions as to why they want to go on an ASB trip. The teams are designed to have a diverse group of people, so students can learn from each other as well.
The cost of going on the international trips is $1200, and the national trip is $450, which is just a fraction of the cost, Hand said. The rest is subsidized by student fees.
Allison Griffith can be reached at [email protected]