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| Students in Edgewood College’s Bridging Borders class, along with their instructor, Professor Julie Whitaker, are spending 12 days in Chiapas, Mexico, this month working with other college students on two service projects in the area. Front row, pictured from left are: Nicole Sandoval, Taylor Skenandore, Rachel Greznia, and Olivia Bunz. Back row, pictured from left are: Andrew Shuck, Leslie Ramirez, Vicky Mikelsen, Jacqueline Diesch, and Andrew Lauritzen. Not pictured is Steven George. (Contributed photo) |
MADISON — During winter break, while many college students are hanging out with hometown friends or catching up on sleep, a group from Edgewood College is spending some of that time helping others.
From January 2 to January 13, almost a dozen students and their instructor are in the state of Chiapas, Mexico helping with two service projects.
The students are in the college’s Bridging Borders class, which provides students with an opportunity to learn about the people of Mexico and work with college students there to plan a community-based service project.
“I am all about getting out there and being able to help other people,” said junior Olivia Bunz. “Being able to do it with people that I’ve gotten the pleasure of getting to know over an entire semester seemed like an awesome opportunity, not only to get to help people who need it, but to be able to develop life-long relationships with my classmates.”
Learning before the trip
The Bridging Borders class focuses on learning about the people in Mexico and what social and economic circumstances lead some of its people to immigrate to countries such as the U.S.
“Being an immigrant myself, I feel like it helps better understand other people who are also immigrants but face different situations,” said senior Nicole Sandoval. “Understanding the root cause of immigration really helps put the immigration issue into better perspective.”
The students have also been communicating via Skype and Facebook with some of their peers from Universidad Intercultural de Chiapas (UNICH). The students from UNICH will be working with the Edgewood students on the project in Chiapas.
The UNICH students did assessments in their area to determine where the greatest needs are.
The two projects students will work on are a playground and composting garden.
When complete, the playground project will feature equipment made from recycled materials and will be near a local school. The UNICH students are responsible for finding the materials, while the Edgewood students are handling most of the fundraising. They will all be working on constructing the project.
The compost garden project will help people grow their own gardens so they can produce for themselves and eventually sell to other community members. It’s expected to help 37 families in that area.
Because of the weather, the students won’t be able to plant anything, but they will be working the soil and preparing the grounds ahead of planting season.
Time away from home
Despite being away from home just after the holidays, the students were excited to go on the trip.
“They can’t wait,” said their instructor Julie Whitaker, associate professor at the college.
“I am most looking forward to being able to experience a new culture and helping communities who will benefit so much from our work,” said senior Rachel Greznia. “It has been such a great experience so far and I can only imagine how much greater it will be in Mexico. I am so excited to go and be a part of change.”
“I’m really excited to be able to help the two communities while experiencing first hand the causes of immigration,” said Sandoval. “I’m also super excited to eat the delicious foods of Mexico.”
Along with working on the projects, the students also have a chance to see culture in Mexico first hand.
They celebrated the Día de los Reyes Magos (“Day of the Magi”) on January 6, the feast day of the Epiphany, with their new friends in Mexico.
They also have time to see ruins in the area and tour villages.
“I am looking forward to getting to experience a whole other culture and really be able to put faces and stories to the people of Mexico,” said Bunz.
Others looked forward to the opportunity to represent their country.
“I hope we can be ambassadors for the U.S.,” said student Andrew Shuck. “I hope that some people here in the U.S. see that what we’re doing is a positive thing not only for the residents of Chiapas, Mexico but also for those of us going on the trip in the form of valuable experience and exposure to the world and other people.”
Some of the students will be making a film of the trip, which the class will see during a get-together they are planning for mid-February.
For more information on the class and project, visit bridgingborders2013-14.weebly.com