Coming up on their 20th anniversary, the University of Idaho Alternative Service Break program has adopted COVID-19 restrictions to still allow students to experience the heartwarming impact of community service.
The program’s upcoming event is the Global Connections Alternative Service Break. They have created this completely virtual event for UI students to connect and become virtual pen-pals with students in Togo, Africa.
Center for Volunteerism and Social Action has collaborated with the Institute for Community Partnerships and Sustainable Development, a nonprofit organization created by UI professor, Ro Afatchao. The event will consist of a weekly meeting for four weeks, where specific teams will learn about the students, social justice issues, culture of Togo and share their own as well. It will conclude with a live video call on March 24 where UI and Togo students will be able to interact face to face. The registration deadline is Feb. 17, and students can register for the event here.
The program is education-based and a student lead group that connects UI students to different organizations, locally and internationally, to unite on a variety of service projects. The program has a few different structures, pre-COVID-19 events consisted of weekend trips and 1–2-week trips over winter and spring break. These have ranged all the way from local to international.
Recent trips have included assisting the Community Cancer Services organization in Sandpoint, Idaho, and partnering with the North Idaho Correctional Institute where students worked with inmates to help them earn GEDs or technical certificates. This past winter, students went on an international trip to Togo to assist Institute for Community Partnerships and Sustainable Development, where students helped to build a school.
All of the virtual events and weekend trips are free, and the spring and winter trips cost around $150 to $1,500. There are scholarships available, based on financial need.
The ASB program has made a significant impact on UI students. It allows students to experience and learn about social justice, culture, and more. It allows them to make connections and give back to their community. Madi Thurston, the Alternative Service Break Coordinator, holds the organization in high regards and believes it is something every student should get involved with.
“It’s an opportunity for students from different backgrounds, who may not usually meet, to come together to work with a different community on a social justice issue,” Thurston said. “It allows students to make an impact in these communities.”
UI student Michael Eze has attended several of the program’s events, and has enjoyed his experience immensely. Attending his first event assisting the Community Cancer Services organization in Sandpoint showed him how gratifying giving back to a community can be.
“It just shows you that
little things really matter,” Eze said. “It was great being able to give back to that community because I had an aunt who had just recently died of cancer, and it was nice to give back to that community and do something in her name.”
Eze recommends that students take advantage of as many of the program’s events as possible, as they have made such an impression on him and his perspective of community service.
“I would 100% recommend all of them,” Eze said. “If could do all of them, I would. I feel like community service is a key component in your academic career.”
Not only is the program rewarding for students, but it also beneficial to the communities being served. It helps highlight all the work that local non-profits are doing and shows students there are available resources.
Jess Zazuetta, UI student and Alternative Service Break student leader, said how passionate the local trips made her about food insecurity in the community. Zazuetta led a trip last fall partnered with Vandal Food Pantry, Food Not Bombs and Backyard Harvest to help those experiencing food insecurity.
“It’s really awesome to see the community come together,” Zazuetta said. “I definitely think having it local gave me a different feel, because I was doing work for my own community. It was a bit more personal.”
Zazuetta also found her position as a student leader enriched her overall experience of the trip and recommends that students should take any available opportunities to lead future trips.
“It challenged me in ways I had never been challenged before,” Zazuetta said. “It pushed me to look at these issues in a way that wasn’t just discussing them (in classes.)”
During the COVID-19 pandemic and different circumstances, now is the perfect time to get involved to give back to the community. Thurston said Alternative Service Breaks is a starting point for anyone who feels the need to give back.
“Now more than ever people need a sense of community and ASB has always been centered around community and making connections, whether it’s with local organizations or with people from a foreign country.”
To learn more information about the program, visit their website and find out about upcoming events.
Bailey Brockett can be reached at [email protected].