Students Participate in Alternate Spring Break Program

Students Participate in Alternate Spring Break Program

By Mark Daly

                In the early hours of the Wednesday morning during her spring break, University of Massachusetts sophomore Suzanne Grenier found herself holding a Craftsman cordless drill, attaching metal screws to the pieces of wood that served as support for the green house that she helped build.   

                As part of the Alternate Spring Break program, a two-credit independent study through the Center for Public Policy & Administration, Grenier was one of 13 students who went to Robeson County, N.C., a rural county located in the southeastern part of the state. The program, which according to their Facebook page aims to “teach social justice and looks to inspire active learning and hope,” is an alternate way for college students to spend their spring breaks. Started by UMass Amherst campus minister Kent Higgins in the mid 1990’s, the Alternate Spring Break program combines hands on work experience with the study of cultures to produce what students describe as a memorable week of service.

                According to Mac Legerton, executive director for the Center for Community Action in Robeson County who helped organize the group work, “The learning really occurs when what is implied becomes explicit. In order for your experience to move from just an experience to learning, you need to have organized reflection both in the experience and on the experience. That’s what service learning is about.”    

                Home to the Lumbee, the largest Native American tribe east of the Mississippi River, Robeson County is the fourth most racially diverse county in the country, and also one of the poorest. Much of it consists of run down houses, overgrown shrubbery and unpaved roads.

                In his published article, titled “The Economic and Social Impact of Job Loss in Robeson County North Carolina 1993–2003,” Legerton reports that, “The average household income in Robeson County in 2000 was $36,579, as compared to the state’s average of $51,225.” More than half of the population in Robeson County earned an average income of less than $30,000 a year. Thirteen years later, the county still lags behind the rest of the state. Consequently, he said, residents are forced to make several changes to their lifestyles in order to meet the basic necessities of life.

                One of those changes is the creation of greenhouses, a way for residents to grow their own foods and no longer be dependent on large food chains for many of their nutritional needs. This concept was brought forth by many local farmers who had heard of the idea and wanted to try it themselves.

                As a result, Grenier and her fellow UMass students helped workers from the Hawkeye Indian Culture Center in Red Springs, N.C. construct a 96 foot by 20 foot green house that will be used to grow tomatoes, lettuce and cucumbers, among other crops for the use of the Cultural Center and the community.

                For Grenier, this was an opportunity to work as a group. She said, “I learned about how I positively contribute to a group dynamic, and also how I could improve my way of working alongside others who I do not know very well.” Through the process of building the greenhouse, she was able to do just that.

                Beginning with an empty surface, students assisted workers by installing metal stakes into ground that would serve as the foundation for the green house. While some students completed the installation, others assisted in bending metal pipes that would serve as the archway for the green house. Using a homemade machine created by a local farmer, students held the 15 foot long aluminum pipes while others bent them in exactly the right spots to assure that each arch was the same shape. Row by row, students assembled the framework for the entire greenhouse in two and a half days, three weeks faster than expected had the students not been there to lend a hand.

                For junior Jenna Roche, the experience of learning about other cultures was just as exciting as learning more about herself. She said, “I learned how to work effectively with people of all different backgrounds and all different personality types.” She also found that the experience of doing work that benefits others is the best kind of work to do.

                The overall service was appreciated.

                “It was just a blessing having [the volunteers] out here, to lighten the load,” said Juan Carrillo, one of the workers from the Hawkeye Indian Cultural Center. At the completion of the project, he joked that if it had not been for the student volunteers, the five or six other workers they do have would still be bending pipe, a reference to the first phase of the project.      

                Students also gained experience using saws, cordless drills, and nail guns to build wooden railings for the sides of the green house and learned how to use basic tools, such as ratchets and clamp locks, to connect additional piping at the top of the arches, which added support to the structure.   

                Grenier said that working with the power tools made her job much easier. She said, “I think it's really cool how easily and quickly you can make a really sturdy structure.”

                For Larry Chavis, Project Director at the Hawkeye Cultural Center, the green house will serve as a teaching tool for a new way of thinking. He said, “The plan is to teach others how to grow off season crops, to start their own early spring crops, and summer crops, in a green house so they can have the food before the usual mature date.” By doing this, he said the greenhouse will help farmers have more fresh food, a move forward in the direction of sustainable foods.

               

As part of the requirement for the two credits, students met in small groups on a weekly basis throughout the semester to read about the lifestyles of the various cultures and to get a better understanding of what the Lumbee and Hawkeye tribes have gone through. They’ve learned how the tribes aren’t recognized by the federal government, which prevents them from receiving federal funding and how the lack of funding has led to the current living conditions that residents experience. With the knowledge they gained, it is intended that students apply what is learned in classroom discussion to the real world. 

               

For Grenier, the experience of volunteering taught her a lot. She said, “It really makes a difference to see a culture and learn about its past in order to understand why preserving it is so important to the people.” She said that she never thought of doing this over spring break, but had no regrets.

                Freshman Mia Ayres felt similarly about the service. In an email, she said, “As students, we spend so much time at desks, so I loved the opportunity to do physical work and be outside.” She said that although she had read about the area, it didn’t affect her until she was actually there.  

                In addition to performing service work, students also participated in several activities to learn more about life styles in the community. One of the activities was learning Lumbee spiritual dances. Guided by a large bamboo drum placed in the center of the hall, Lumbee Indians showed students different dances that are performed at celebrations and got to meet the young Lumbee Tribe pageant winners. The two winners, ages 14 and 6, got to speak to the students and explain the things they will be working towards in the upcoming year, including education for their tribes and the continuation of tribal rituals. With this, students were able to gain knowledge of cultural traditions.   

                Ayres seemed to speak on behalf of all the students when she said, “I loved this experience and thought it was the best way for me to spend my spring break.” 

               

Preparations have already begun for next year’s Alternative Spring Break trip. For more information on how to become involved, visit the Alternative Spring Break Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/AlternativeSpringBreak