SHU Students Spend Spring Break Volunteering

Participants spread SHU’s mission of global social justice with hands-on initiatives

Sacred Heart University students and staff spent spring break making a difference in South and Central America, as well as in the United States, through SHU-sponsored service programs.

Eight students traveled with Arlete Perez Paez, volunteer programs & service learning (VPSL) assistant director, and Kathleen (Kate) O’Gara, political science professor, to Pereria, Colombia, for a weeklong program in partnership with Uniminuto University in Bogotá. The group spent part of the trip in the Eje Cafetero region, where they worked with social service organizations that assist children, adolescents, senior citizens and women who are heads of households.

Another nine students joined an excursion led by Annie Wendel, VPSL director, and Mark Congdon, Jr., communication professor, to Limón, Costa Rica. The trip took place in partnership with Tecnológico de Costa Rica, a university specializing in engineering and science. Participants spent a week in the Veragua Rainforest, working alongside researchers and local college students on conservation efforts. They planted trees, constructed ponds for tree frog habitats and assisted with projects at a nearby elementary school.

Such service-learning programs enable SHU students to demonstrate the University’s mission by connecting themes of global social justice with hands-on initiatives. “Our students and outside communities benefit from cross-cultural exchanges and the opportunity to reflect on concepts of power, privilege and positionality,” said Wendel.

SHU’s Habitat for Humanity chapter organized three trips over spring break: one group of students and faculty traveled to Tacoma, WA; another went to Denver, CO, and the third traveled to Georgetown, SC. The volunteers connected with the communities as they built new homes, sometimes working with the future homeowners.

Cameron Connelly, chapter president, believes the work done during spring break was invaluable. “Many of the Habitat affiliates we work with have a dedicated group of volunteers that are local to them. Spring break provided an opportunity for us to give them extra hands throughout the week and really catapult their projects forward,” he said.

Erin Murphy, post awards specialist at SHU, agrees the volunteer work was rewarding. “The week was truly an incredible experience―one I am so thankful to have been a part of. Every Habitat project is special, but this trip was one for the soul. I will always promote serving communities outside of our own in an environment that pushes everyone out of their comfort zone,” Murphy said.

Pictured, from top down: Costa Rica, Colombia and South Carolina trips