Every year during spring break there are groups of students across the nation who give up their relaxation time and do service work for one week.Some stay in the states, others leave the country. In both cases, the students are helping developing areas.
There are pros and cons to doing an alternative spring break, something that spring break service trips are often called. You are away from friends and family, you don’t get time to relax or catch up on sleep, and are often in an area with no smartphones or wifi access. But you also get an opportunity to expand your global knowledge on a first-person basis.
This usually comes with general feelings of positive attitudes about yourself and the group of people you went with. But that’s just it. There is an argument that short term service trips benefit more the people who do them, not the people who are being visited.
So the question is raised: what is the cost and is it worth it to go? More often than not, these trips have to be paid for, and they are rarely cheap, especially for college students. It’s also the case that the money used to travel and stay at these places could perhaps be used in a much more fruitful manner if only the money was sent to the destination instead of the students going.
Alternative spring breaks are definitely going to be an experience, but there has to be a line between doing real service and going on a vacation that will make you feel good. All too often people come back and talk about the amazing experience that they had, the way it made them feel and how they grew and then promptly change their profile picture to them with a group of young kids.
But rarely do you hear someone talk about how the work they did affected the people they were supposed to be helping. If they have a better understanding of the way the world works, it’s not what’s on the forefront of their minds.
With a lot of trips, the work that is being done can usually be done quicker and better by the people you are sent to help. This is not to say, however, that these trips are a bad thing. But research needs to be done before a trip is planned.
The attitude of North-Americans-do-it-right needs to be dropped. How could we possibly understand the proper work that needs to be done if we are not the ones suffering first hand from the problem? We need to listen and comprehend why we’re even there in the first place. To understand the world is a much bigger place than just one person, and that there is more than one aspect that goes into a poverty-stricken nation.
These trips should be about learning to walk with people, not in front of them. To actually comprehend the entirety of the country and culture being visited, not just being shocked that people live so differently from you.
Short-term service trips, alternative spring breaks, are a great experience to have. Especially if they ignite a spark that you didn’t know existed and give you something to be passionate about. Yes, they are expensive, and you have to give up your break. But what comes from it is something so much more than what could be gained staying at home.
It’s possible that you will discover a passion that you did not know existed, and that your life will be changed, hopefully, for more than just one week.
