Alternative Breaks

Weekends, Summer Break, Winter Break, Spring Break

Paulo Freire, in Pedagogy of the Oppressed, wrote about North American higher education from the perspective of South America. He raised the concern that students in North American classrooms hear answers to questions that they, as students, never asked. ECM Alternative Breaks seek to remedy this. Questions arise out of the participant’s experience with different cultures and settings.

As a participant in last year’s ASB commented, “I found that learning of the community and helping the community was most important – I didn’t know that culture like this existed in the U.S.”

All alternative breaks include an orientation on culture, reflection on the experience, volunteer service, conversation with local residents, and support of an “exploring spirit” where participants are encouraged to search for understanding, not dogmatic certainty.

Thanks to the Community Mercantile fundraising jars, grants, fundraisers, and individual donors, ECM attempts to keep the ASBs affordable. They are open and affirming to all.

Trip Coordinators Honored as KU “Women of Distinction”

ECM Alternative Breaks were fortunate to be recognized by the selection of the four women as "KU Women of Distinction" for 2008-09. They were coordinators for the following trips: Juarez, Mexico- Jenn Gapetz, El Salvador- Sara Birmingham and Heather Wurtz, New Orleans- Haley Masterson. Pick up a 2008-2009 poster at the ECM and visit the Emily Taylor Women's Resource Center website (http://www.etwrc.ku.edu/~etwrc/calendar/wod-0809/index.html)

Summer Break 2009

No Mas Muertes Break

No Mas Muertes (or No More Deaths) is a response to the humanitarian crisis currently occurring at the U.S./Mexico border. Each year, thousands of illegal immigrants crossing the Sonora desert die. The organization dedicated to ending this human death and suffering. Volunteers living at one of two desert camps patrol migrant trails: looking for the injured and leaving food and water at designated water drops.

This is also a program of awareness. Throughout the week, students will be exposed to the border situation on a ground level: students will visit the wall separating the two countries, speak to those recently deported, and visit the shrines of those recently deceased.

Trip Logistics:

• We will leave Friday, August 7th and return Sunday, August 16th.
• While volunteering, we will be living in one of two desert camps maintained by No Mas Muertes. Student volunteers will bring tents and sleeping bags with them and should be prepared to get pretty dusty.
• We will road trip together to Arizona. The trip involves passage through a major portion of the American west and your site leaders suggest that we take full advantage of that. We will drive home via the Grand Canyon and plan to spend Saturday in Colorado. We want this to be a wonderful and informative experience!

Meet your site leaders:

• Brenna Daldorph is a junior majoring in French and journalism. Brenna will spend June and July in an internship in Chicago and spent spring 2008 studying abroad in Angers, France. After an incredible experience volunteering with No Mas Muertes during spring break of 2009, she decided she needed to return. She hopes to one day work as journalist bringing issues like the border situation into American's conscience. bmae@ku.edu
• Jess Burger is a junior majoring in sociology and anthropology. Jess will spend June and July in an internship in Dublin. Jess decided to volunteer with No Mas Muertes after hearing a speaker talk about it in fall 2008. She, too, volunteered with No Mas Muertes during spring break 2009-her second alternative break experience. After she graduates in December, she hopes to work in Ghana and is currently applying to the Peace Corps. jessburgs@yahoo.com

Winter Break 2009

Immokalee, Florida

In January, six participants drove the ECM 1990 Dodge Caravan for 23 hours (each way) to the southern tip of Florida. They met up with students from Harvard Divinity School and worked alongside the Coalition of Immokalee Workers in the struggle for fair food, justice, and human rights, all as part of the process for serious social change.

They stayed and lived in homes of the migrant workers. During the week they learned how these workers from Mexico, Guatemala, and Haiti had organized themselves. The coalition has been particularly successful in having Taco Bell, McDonalds, and Burger King affirm that each will pay 1 cent more per pound of tomatoes they purchase. At the present time, they support the national boycott and a non-violent protest as a strategy to persuade Chipotle to do the same.

This Winter Break experience was coordinated by Shannon Gorres, a 2008 graduate from KU with a MA in Latin American studies.

Alternative Weekends 2008-2009

Kansas City

Rachel Pearson coordinated six participants who explored the theme “Living with Art in Kansas City”. These participants spent Friday evening at the “First Friday Art Walk”. They were hosted in homes of members of Second Presbyterian Church of Kansas City. On Saturday they experienced the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, concluding with a lunch at the museum, where they reflected on the role of art in culture and society.

Lawrence Alternative Parenting Weekend

Jenny Scales coordinated the “Alternative Parenting” weekend held at the ECM. A variety of speakers and presentations were made to approximately 20 participants who shared their perspectives on the theme. One participant’s evaluation sums up many others “I was really impressed by the variety and quality of the speakers. Their speaking time seemed just right too, especially having break times to discuss their topics further in depth.”

Alternative Spring Breaks 2009

Arizona

The site was a farm owned by an 87 year old Dine (Navajo) Elder woman on the edge of the Hopi Reservation in northeast Arizona. She and her daughter have refused to move off of their current location.

The 14 participants resided at the farm, preparing it for the spring while engaging in conversation with Ina and her family, who drove to the farm to translate and add to the discussion. The theme, “Learning what Sustainability is in the Traditional Sense”, was both experienced and discerned in evening conversations by those participating.

Reanna Putnam (rennap@ku.edu), junior in Art History and Sociology, was the coordinator.

ECM-KU Urban Studies "The New York Experience

March 14-21, 2009 - "The New York Experience" dealt with the culture, issues, and influence of New York City. This Alternative Spring Break was based in critical pedagogy and experiential education. We learned about the social and economic forces shaping the city's cultural landscape and about its historic impact on the rest of the country. Some of the key issues covered are labor, economics, immigration, human rights, urban planning, and cultural, social, and political movements. Emphasis was given to changing and endangered communities. Some of the neighborhoods we explored include Chelsea, the Bowery, Alphabet City, Chinatown, Financial District, Manhattanville, Brooklyn Heights, Coney Island, Brighton Beach, & the South Bronx.

ECM-KU Urban Studies was an ECM and KU group made up of 10 diverse participants. This was the program's inaugural year.

• Coordinator: Jenn Gapetz, senior in American Studies
• Assistant Coordinator: Joshua Gapetz, junior in Political Science and American Studies
• Contact them at ecm.urban.alternativebreak@gmail.com

Click here to see pictures of the ECM-KU Urban Studies "The New York Experience" trip!!!

New Mexico

The cultural enclave of north-central New Mexico, 65 miles northwest of Santa Fe, was experienced by 12 participants. The theme, “What do I want My Life to Say?”, was incorporated into the volunteer service in villages in the region and on the Ghost Ranch Conference Center, which served as the “base camp”. Community building and an introduction to culture through presentations were integrated into the theme by participants being in “Base Groups” for sharing their perspectives.

Ghost Ranch is a national adult study center of the Presbyterian Church (USA) and, at 6200 feet above sea level, is similar in altitude to the Arizona trip. It is located in a high desert where American artist Georgia O’Keefe resided and completed many of her paintings.

Thad Holcombe (ecmku@ku.edu), ECM Campus Minister, served as a resource. Meredith Van Natta (mjvan@ku.edu), senior in Latin American studies, was the Coordinator.

Postponed and Transitioned Trips

Juarez

Juarez no longer offered as an Alternative Break. This trip has been postponed due to the increased violence in the city. For more information on the situation there, visit http://www.elpasotimes.com/

El Salvador

The El Salvador partnership continues from its initial trip in 2006. Originally initiated by Nyana Miller, a KU student, it has been “spun off. It is now assisting in organizing 2-3 delegations a year, with the support of ECM and Peace Mennonite Church. Weekly meetings are held to enable opportunities to be in solidarity with those in El Salvador who struggle for social justice. A strong connection is nurtured with El Pappaturo, a village in northern El Salvador and a Sister City with Lawrence through CISPES.

More information is available through Sarah Birmingham (sbirm@ku.edu), a senior in Art, and Robert Blum (wienblum@sunflower.com) with Peace Mennonite Church.