CONTENTS Articles Page Recap by Kayla Hedman 2 More from Exmore Photos and stories 3 Recap by Amanda Schroth 4 Center Spotlight Caitlin Golub 5 Nicaragua Recap 6-7 ACT Week Recap 8 The Center Swag Contact Us 9 SAT To Exmore, VA Class to Nicaragua • Adam Kayhoe ’12, Accounting • Hannah Andersen ’14, Social Work • Shelby Dickinson ’14, Psychology and Social Work • Kayla Hedman ’14, Marketing • Caitlin Golub ’12, Communication • Amanda Schroth ’15, Professional Writing • Jennifer Sullivan ’14, Accounting • Angela Squillante-Evans ’14, Accounting Read more about their experiences on pages 2 through 5. Page 1 Special Edition Volume 2, Issue 8 Spring Semester Closing, 2012 CHAMPLAIN COLLEGE • Jessica Lowell ‘13, Marketing • Jordan Lemay ‘13, Elementary Education • Stefanie Lash ‘13, Criminal Justice • Nicole Brazill ‘13, Social Work • Emily Burns ‘13, Social Work • Hannah Toof ‘13, Social Work • Joey Regan ‘13, International Business • Fletcher Ramsey ‘13, Accounting • William Boos ‘13, Psychology Read more about their experiences on pages 6 and 7. Taking a dip in the Atlantic ocean at Silver Beach in Virginia.
Read more about their experiences on pages 6 and 7.
Taking a dip in the Atlantic ocean at Silver Beach in Virginia.
Kayla Hedman ‘14 / CSCE Work-studyOverspringbreak(March3-10),eightChamplainCol-legestudents,includingmyself,andtwostaffmem-bersfromtheChamplainCollegeCenterforService&CivicEngagement(CSCE)drove594milessouthtothe town of Exmore on the Eastern Shore of Virginia for a Service in ActionTrip (SAT).Within the smalltown of Exmore is an African-American community calledNewRoad,whichhasinherentlybeenaroundsince1906,havingreceivedlittlehelpfromthetown.MissRuthWise,directoroftheNewRoadCommuni-tyDevelopmentGroupgreetedusandsaidaprayerthankingGodthatwearrivedsafely.
Miss Ruth is and inspiration and can only be described as a local hero. She left New Road to attend college inshore before moving to NewYork City to teach.ShereturnedhometoNewRoad,findingithadnotchangedsinceshehadleftdecadesbefore.In1992,manyhousesstilldidnothaveindoorplumbingandthere was not a sewage system in the neighborhood. This is when she created the New Road Com-munity DevelopmentGroup with a mission to improvethecommunity.They finally achievedsewage throughout the neighborhood in 2001,and a large develop-ment of town homes called New Road Village was completed in 2010.Currently, the group isworking on raising funds to construct a new com-munitycenterforeventsand recreation.
After we concluded a tour of Exmore and learned about the history of New Road the first morning,Miss Ruth decided it was simply too cold to start working.ForVirginianatives,anythingbelow50de-greesiscold.BeingastudentinVermont,Iwasprac-tically in shorts and a t-shirt with 35-degree weather. Weretiredtothehouseforourfirstmealcookedbytwo local women and then closed the night with a reflection.
We started working the next morning. Half of the group was sent to clean up the community cen-ter office twohouses away fromour own, and theother half worked at the NicheMarket (formerly a
thriftstore)toorganizetheclothesthathadn’tbeentouched in two years. After we made some progress intheMarket,weinvitedlocalsintotaketheclothesfor free.
As the week went on and we continued working in theoffice, theNicheMarket, anddoing someyardworkatlocals’homes,werealizedthatthistripwasnotsolelyaboutphysicalresults,butaboutthecon-nections we were making. We looked back on the people we met and the things we learned. “We are helpingmaintainaself-sustainingcommunity,whiledeveloping relationships that encourage them tokeep working towards their goal,” said senior, CaitGolub(seep5).
Our group realized that the older generation in New Road had a strong sense of pride for their ancestry and the history of their race. The younger genera-tionswereindenialanddidnottaketheseconver-sations to heart. Kids grew up with aspirations of becomingprobasketballplayers,Americanidols,ormodelsratherthanattendingcollege.Wegottovol-unteer in the Boys and Girls Club later in the week toencouragestudentstopursuecollege,andgottospendmoretimewithoneofRuth’sgrandsons,Alfie.Alfiebecameanhonorarymemberofourgroupdur-ingtheweek;thetripwouldn’thavebeenthesamewithout his company.
We learned a lot on this trip. Although it was not as organizedandworkdrivenaslastyear’sHabitatforHumanitytripinLexington,IwouldhavetosaythatIlearned a lot more about their culture and met some amazing people such as Miss Ruth, Miss CynthiaLewis(apoetfromNYC,seep3),and‘Slick’WillyWise(retiredproboxer).
Iassureyou,nextspring,signupforaServiceinAc-tion Trip. Students who attended this SAT would agree.
Spring break service in action trip recap More from Exmore
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“TheServiceinActionTriptoVirginiaisnotonethatcanbeeasilydescribed,andwhenyouthinkaboutit,itwaskindofanoddchoicetomake.Insteadofgoinghomeandseeingourfamilies,ortakingatriptoawarmbeachwithfriends,wehoppedinavanwithpeoplewehadjustrecentlymetforanexperiencewedidnotknowmuchabout.AweeklaterthatsamedecisionwouldbeoneIwouldneverregret.IleftExmore,VAwithagroupofpeopleIcancallmyfriends.Iwasimmersedinaculturefulloffriendlyfacesandinterestingsto-ries.Irakedyards,workedwithlocalkids,sortedclothes,butmostimportantly,madeconnections.Weoftentalkedduringreflectionshowitseemsthevolunteerbenefitsmorebylearningthanthepeopletheyendupservinginthecommunity.AttheendofthedayIwasshoweredwithhospitality(usuallyintheformoffood)andgenerosityandworkingonvariousprojectsintheafternoonsdidn’tcompare.SomethingthatwilllastfarbeyondthatshortweekwespentinVirginiaisthestoriesIwillkeep.IcansharewithotherswhotheNewRoadCommunityisandwhytheyaresuchafantasticgroupofindividuals. IcansharetheirstrugglesandtriumphsandhowtheiroutlookonlifehaschangewhoIamasaperson.“ -ShelbyDickinson‘14 We got to experience things in Exmore like a town
meeting, tour a local business (New RavennaMosaics), and learn about the school system.
For more pictures, visit our web album.
Playing cards outside the Niche
Market with James, a local.
Would You?By Cynthia “Poetcyn” Lewis
What if there were a worldwide planForeachandeverywomanandmanRequiringthatyoutakeastandagainstracism,Raiseyourhand,wouldyou?
What if the complexion of your neighborhood changedWhileeverythingelsestayedthesameWouldyoupackyourbags,onesunshinydayAndmoveaway,wouldyou?
What if your life was hanging by a threadAnd the only one who could bring youBack from the deadWas a man who wore dredlocks on his headWouldyoulethimsaveyourlife,wouldyou?
Spring break service in action trip recap Amanda Schroth ‘15 / CSCE Active VolunteerGoingonthisVirginiaTripmademenervousafewweeks before our departure. I had asked myself,“WhyamIdoingthis?MaybeIshould’vejustgonehome.”ButnowthatI’vereachedtheend,I’vefoundthatIcouldneverregretthisexperience.
IwillalwaysrememberthepeoplethatIwasabletomeetthispastweek,andIhavebeenpermanentlyinfluenced by their kindness and stories.
MissRuthservesasaninspirationtoallofus,fight-ing for her community with all of her heart. She wel-comedus,outstretchedherarmsandsmiled,andthen,saidgood-byetoeachofusindividuallyasifwe were lifelong friends. Miss Ruth’s concern forus,makingsurewewerehavingagoodtimeandeating delicious food,made it feel like this trip was more for us than her community. She welcomed us to stop by again if we were evernear Exmore,VA. A partof me wants to go out of my way during the middleofaroadtrip,justto stop by and say hello to her. She became our adoptedgrandmotherthatweek,watchingoverusandtellingusherstories.Shesangtousinadeep,soulfulvoice,anditwasbeautifulandmemorable.WhenshereadMayaAngelou,shelivedthatpoem,swayingherhips and smirking.Most importantly,Iwitnessedawomanwhowas lovedbyhercom-munity,whereeveryoneknewhernameandhadtospeaktoher.Shewasstrongandconfident,laidback and calm, determined and passionate. TheNew Road community had Miss. Ruth’s touch alloverit,wecouldn’tgoanywherewithoutseeingit.
Alfie,hergrandson,broughtbackchildhoodforus.His witty remarks and constant laughter followed us around,anditmadeussmileandlaughtoo.WhenIfirstreallyspokewithhim,heputhishandsonmyarmsandasked,“Isthatyourguitar?CanIplayit?”Eventually,Ididsitdownwithhimandbeganatalk
withhimaboutmusic.Itoldhimaboutstringsandfrets,what theydidandwhatyoudidwith them.He toldmehewas in thebandat school,playingtrombone,butthathewasswitchingtodrumsnextyear.Ilovedhearingthat,seeingashowIstillplayin concert band today. Alfie remindedmeofmy-self,andIthinkweallwerereminded,becausehesmiledsomuch, lovedsugar,andlookeduptouslikeweusedtoaskids.Hewassoaffectionate,con-stantlygivinghugsandintroducingustotheotherkidsinthecommunity.Hesleptovertomakesurehewasthereonourlastmorning,justsohecouldsaygood-bye.Tothelastmoment,hewasaskingusto stay longer.
I thought Iwould lookback on this trip and think about what I didto help this community. Instead, I find myselffocusing on the people we met and spoke to. They were far more im-portant than anything I did that week. I willremember them when I look back on my firstService in Action Trip,because this trip was really all about them; meetingthem,knowing
them, becoming friends with them, and learningfromthem.Iwilldothisagain,justtomeetpeopleaswonderfulandkindasMissRuth,Alfie,andtherest of the New Roads Community.
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Above: Amanda and Alfie
Center Spotlight: Caitlin Golub “My name is Caitlin Golub, and I’m asenior Mass. Communications major.I’vemoved somuch that I considermyhometown to be New England in gener-al.I’mintheprocessoffinalizingspend-ing my summer in South Africa working forapublichealthoutreachfacility,andthenI’mheadedtoNYUinthefalltoob-tainmymastersdegreeinGlobalAffairs.
Iwasfirstintroducedtoservicethroughmy human rights course, spending my
spring break in Nicaragua in 2011.Thiswas my first experience with real pov-erty,and it changedmyperspectiveonlife. On the plane ride home I realizedhowmuchitaffectedmeandhowIhadneverfeltsofulfilledoreducatedbefore.I knew that international developmentwaswhatIwantedtopursueinmylife.
Fromthatpointon,I’vegottenmyhandsintoalldifferentkindsofserviceprojectsboth locally and internationally. I tookpart in last year’s Teach For Tomorrowtrip to Bagamoyo, Tanzania with nineother students,and it justcontinued to
assuremethatIwasfollowingtherightpath. Tanzania was more work related,where as Nicaragua was more of a cul-turalimmersion.InTanzania,weworkedwiththreedifferentorganizations,teach-ing kids of all ages. We also became close friends with a group of boys from a local youthcenterwetaughtat,UHURU.NowitisayearlaterandIstilltalktoafewofthem weekly.
ThispastspringbreakItookpartinthespringbreakServiceinActionTriptoEx-more,VA.Weworkedwithin a commu-nitythatwasunitedthroughtheirdrivefor fair treatmentand improvement forboth their community in general as well as the youth within their community. Therelationshipsandinteractions Ihadthere,muchlikemyabroadservicetrips,areonesI’llneverforget.It’sagreatfeel-ing to talk to a younger student and help themrealizethattheyarejustascapableof accomplishing their goals as any one else.
Throughallthesetrips,andinteractionswith the CSCE, I’ve learned so muchabout not only myself, but also theworldaroundme.It’seasytoreadabout,see images,and then formyourunder-standingof it,but it’sanentirelydiffer-ent thing to actually immerse yourself in it. It changes youbymaking youmoreappreciative of what you have, whilealso making you more aware of your sur-roundings. I would recommend takingthese trips to anyone who has any inter-est in the international world, pushingtheir limits,or justtakinganadventure.You’llleaveapartofyourselfbehind,butwhat you take with you will be so much morefulfilling.“
Angela (as pictured), Kayla and Amanda got to train with ‘Slick’ Willy Wise, retired pro boxer.
Adam, Jennifer, Angela and Cait located in front of the New Road Community Office.
Nicaragua
Juniors travel for Human Rights Course
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-Joey ReganNicaraguaNarrative#1:Day4.CoffeeDay. The tutorial we were get-tingoncoffeetreeswascutshortonce Fletch[er Ramsey] starting frantically trying to remove hisjeans. Fletch was covered in fireants. Nine college students, twoprofessors and two coffee farm-ers are no match for thousands of angry red ants. Fortunately Fletch managed to kill all the ants with-out removing hispants and did not have too manylasting side af-fects besides red spots on his legs. This was going tobeourfirst fullday of work, andwith thefireants,the brutally hot sun and the lan-guage barrier, itwas going to be a long one. Ourfirsttaskwastodigashallow ditch where coffee seed-lings would be planted. Miguel walkedusovertowherewewouldbe digging and introduced us to his two right hand men. The two men were named Wilmer and Jorje; bothwere soft spoken andreserved.Therewerehundredsofsmall black cylinders filled withcoffee seeds under the shade of12footplantainandcitrustrees.Ishook Jorje’s hand and it felt likecow hide. Ibegandigginganddidn’tget more than four inches into the
soil before my soft gringo hands started to blister. Jorje’s leatherhandswereobviouslytheproductof years and years of manual labor. Eventhoughtherewerenineofusdiggingandfillingbagswithdirt,the two natives were still work-ing circles around us. I realizedthatour“service”tripwasmoreofa source of entertainment for the localsthananefficientcoffeepro-
ducing operation. The whole group worked togetherforafewhours,butonce
the sunwas directly above head,people began taking periodic wa-ter breaks and our pace slowed down. I stayed in the field withJorjeandtriedtorememberalltheSpanishIlearnedingradeschool.Istartedwiththetypicalintroduc-tory questions. “Do you have any brothers or sisters? Have you lived in Nicaragua for your entire life? How old are you?”Etc.JorjeandWilmer
both havemore than ten siblings liv-ing in Nicara-gua and Costa Rica, as wellas kids of their own. Largefamilies are common in Central Amer-ica; our host family had four young children also. Eventuallywe came to
the topic of politics and the Unit-edStates.JorjeaskedmeifIlikedNicaraguaandwhatimpressionsI
hadaboutthecountry,towhichIresponded“Ihadn’tknownmuchabout Nicaragua before coming here.”IhadbeenreadingthebookLifeisHard,whichisallaboutNica-raguanhistoryandtherevolutionthatoccurredinthe1980s.“What
wastherevolutionlike?”Iblurtedoutonceourconversationstartedtodie.WilmerandJorjesaidnoth-ing and pretended they did not hear the question. They lookedannoyed. Eventually Wilmer be-gantoexplainthattherevolutionhaddeeplyaffectedallofthepeo-ple in Nicaragua and many people had lost their lives, two of themwereJorje’sbrothers.InstantlyIre-alizedtherevolutionwasasensi-tivesubjectandapologizedformybluntness.Jorjeshruggedandwecontinued working. After the conversation IhadwithWilmerandJorje,theev-idence of the revolution becameobviouswhereverourgroupwent.Jorjelivedthroughabloodyrevo-lution and lost two of his brothers to the U.S backed Somoza regime. Our trip to the market a few days later showed more signs of the
revolution and I realized that ev-eryoneovertheageof40proba-blyrememberstherevolutionfirsthand. One of the buildings near the market was riddled with bullet holesfromtherevolution,servingasareminderoftheviolencethat
happened not so long ago. Chil-dren in Nicaragua learn about the
United States in history class and through stories told by their par-ents,yetkidsintheUnitedStates
cannotevenpointoutNicaraguaon a map. Talking to Jorje mademe realize that most Americans are oblivious to how powerfulthe influence of the United States truly is. Jorjeplants,harvestsandroastscoffeeforpenniesadayto
sell to the country that supported the regime that killed his broth-ers. How is an American supposed to serve thepeopleofNicaraguawhen the United States is respon-sible for much of the hardship in this country? There is a certain
sense of guilt associated with be-ing a gringo in Nicaragua.
Have you ever seen one of our graphic tee’s, sweatshirts, or bright green pens around campus?
Have you ever been tempted to “borrow” your roommate’s?Now you can have your own! (And yes, they ARE super soft
and comfy)
CSCE Pullover Hoodie - $30.00 A Center for Service pulloverhoodie is the perfect solution to casual, cool spring days. It issolidbrownincolorwithadrawstringhoodie,kangaroopocketinfront,andtheCSCEmobilelogoontheback.80%cotton,20%Polyester.SizesSm-XLavailable.
CSCE Graphic Tee (shown left)- $10.00Supercozy!SizesSm-XLavailableincardinalred.(shownleft)
Our Mission Toprovidetheencouragement,resourcesand support that allow our students to becomeresponsible,respectfulandengagedcitizenslocally,nationally,andglobally.
Check out our April Calendar at The Center’s Web sitego.champlain.edu/service
Check out past newsletters and other stories on our blog at champcsce.tumblr.com
Contact Information
act week recap The Center for Service & Civic Engagement celebrated its 2nd annual Activate Campus Thinking (ACT)WeekfromMarch12thto16th.Wefeaturedacauseadaytoencouragedialogueandcreate awareness aroundcampusaboutthefeaturedcauses.OnMonday,theCenterlaunchedACTweekbytablinginHaukeCourtyard.Inaddition,wewelcomedU.S.SenatorPatrickLeahy(D-VT),andAdongaQuinto,arepresentativefromNorthernUganda,tobefeaturedspeakersatapresseventabouttheLord’sResistanceArmy(LRA),alongwithPresi-dentDavidFinneyandstudentadvocate,SadieStone.
AsMondaycametoacloseandTuesdaywasuponus,AdongaQuintodidnothavefartogo.Heandhisteamoffourfromanon-profitgroupcalledInvisible Children brought thecampaignandfilmcalledKONY2012toAlumniAuditorium.QuintosharedhisstoryofwhenhewasabductedbyKony’srebelsfromtheLRA.Therewereover175students,staffandfacultythatcametothesceening.
doandtimeyouspendonmakingthisworldalittlebitbetter(oralotbit),”saidStonein an e-mail.
OnWednesday,Champlain’sTeach for TomorrowprogramfeaturedafilmabouttheMalayakaHouse,aUgandanhomethatprovidesasafe,educationalandlovingenvi-ronmentforover35childreninEntebbe.ThissummersevenChamplainstudentsaretravelingtotheMalayakaHousefromMay8thto31st.Thegrouphasdoneanout-standingjobfund-raisingthusfar;theywilllikelysurpasstheir$6,000goalinordertopayforayear’sworthofschoolforallthechildren.
Thursday’scausewasCharity: Water.KirstieGrantgavestudentsanopportunitytoseethedifferencebe-tweencleanandunsafedrinkingwater, and learnmoreabout the inaccessibilityof cleandrinkingwaterplaguingcommunitiesallovertheworld.
Gym, followedbyapizzapartysocial to wrap up the week!
Overall, ACT week was a greatsuccess and it was due largely to thefactthatalloftheactivitieswere student organized. Thank you to all who participated and we encourage you to get in-volvedagainnextspring!Ifyouwould like more information feel free to e-mail us at [email protected].
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Alfie Carrington from Exmore, VA sports his Center shirt.
Ask us about: Chittenden Emergency FoodShelf,VTCARES,HowardCenter,LundFamilyCenter,BoysandGirlsClub,YMCA,KingStreetYouthCenter,IntervaleCenter,CatamountTrailsAssociation,PeaceandJusticeCenter,and many more.
