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The Office of Service Learning and Volunteerism (OSLV) has been as active as ever this year, not only keeping up with annual events, but also adding new volunteer work into its schedule as need arose (such as disaster relief efforts). For spring break this year, OSLV sent out four separate service learning groupsčone to assist with the White Earth Land Restoration Project in northern Minnesota, another to hurricane-stricken New Orleans, the third to the Gandhi Institute in Memphis, and the last to Chicago’s University of Hip-Hop.

White Earth Land Restoration

The White Earth Land Restoration Project (WELRP) is an Anishinaabe organization in Ponsford, MN. Its primary mission is to regain ownership of reservation landčthe vast majority of which is now owned by non-tribal groups. However, other political goals and environmental advocacy are large parts of what the group is all about.

“All of its projects are aimed at creating sustainable communities and restoring and promoting the cultural practices of the Anishinaabe,” said Katelynn Jensen, a sophomore who attended the trip, said. She and other volunteers helped chop wood, deliver food, and do research to assist the group in achieving its goals, as well as provided a helping hand in the many stages of natural syrup making.

One very important task undertaken by the group was the packing and delivery of food for families in an attempt to curb diabetes, which is a growing problem among reservations. This is an extensive monthly process that provides healthy foods to over 180 families across the land. WELRP also sells these products, encouraging the protection of natural foods and other resources.

Although it is clear that WELRP is doing many great things for the community, many students left the trip with not only a sense of pride and happiness at having participated with the group, but also of anger at the way those living on reservations are treated. They feel the government is not doing enough to encourage community pride and are baffled by the poverty and stereotypes residents of the reservation are faced with. There is a sense of abandonment by the U.S. government within this and other reservations. This is exactly what WELRP and its volunteers hope to combat through their work--although a community may have a great ability to provide for themselves and maintain balance, that shouldn’t be validation for neglect from the government as a whole.

During the evenings, some down time was taken to dine with the group, often including volunteers from other universities (many of which are ACTC campuses). For many participants, it was their favorite activity, as it gave them a chance to connect with others about their experience and listen to presentations by community elders.

Junior Kate Bernauer, who co-led the trip along with Senior Dave Danielson, said she feels grateful for the bond shared between Hamline and WELRP. This past spring break was her second trip back to the reservation.

“I hope more people tap into this resource next year,” she said. “I am always inspired by the dedication I see when I go to White Earth.”

New Orleans

New Orleans has been all over the news recently. Rather than coverage of hurricane damage or relief efforts, however, it has focused on coverage of Mardi Gras celebrations and the ‘renewed spirit’ of the area. What isn’t portrayed as often is the amount of work that still needs to be donečso much that over spring break, Hamline sent three different teams of volunteers to assist in the efforts.

The first was a service learning team that worked directly with Hands On, an organization dedicated to volunteer work and humanitarian efforts. The other groups had more specific focuses, one being environmental issues and the other honing in on homelessness. The latter two groups worked through the United Methodist Committee on Relief, which provides aid to disaster zones internationally. Nevertheless, all three groups shared one purposečto do whatever they could in order to restore homes and comfort those who were directly affected by the storm damage.

For many, the most challenging parts of the trip were not the physical labor itself, but rather the emotional strain brought on by the disaster.

First-year Whitney Klein said the biggest moment of impact came as she was helping one man clear his house of the clutter and mold that had collected since Hurricane Katrina. Klein collected personal objects that belonged to the homeowner, including a worn-down photograph of a young girl. Afterward, the man held the photo up for the group to see, explaining that it was the only photograph he had left of his daughter at that time.

CLA Junior Jenna Witt had a similar experience when she was cleaning a house owned by a friend to one of the group members.

“As I was pulling out ruined family photos and his wife’s wedding dress, it was one of the first times that the disaster became personal to me. I realized that this disaster affected not only the homes and structures, but the individual lives of so many people,” Witt said.

Aside from gutting and cleaning houses, volunteers also spent time listening to speakers on issues of race and poverty biases that kept much-needed assistance from getting to the areas in which it was most vital. Many students were angry at the lack of aid and the slow response time of the U.S. government and organizations such as Federal Emergence Management Agency (FEMA).

Senior Katie Young expressed her frustration with the lack of proper compassion and support given to the area, along with the unsettling truth that many people who still need help are being ignored.

“For me, it will be impossible to forget. Now I am struggling with how I can make it clear to everyone else that New Orleans is not okay, regardless of the Mardi Gras coverage last month.”

The Gandhi Institute

The M.K. Gandhi Institute for Nonviolence is an organization created to provide training in many areas, such as conflict prevention and resistance, multicultural understanding, and teamwork. It is also home of the Alternative Spring Break project, in which students from across the country spend one full week learning and practicing the teachings of Mahatma Gandhi. This includes attending lectures and volunteering in the community to develop individual and group cooperation.

The institute is headed by Arun Gandhi, the grandson of the late political and philosophical mentor. Many are honored to meet someone who knows so much about Mahatma Gandhi, who continues to have a powerful impact on people to this day.

Activities in the community were varied and required dedicated work. Students provided service for a local food bank and also performed required tasks at a homeless shelter. They visited the Civil Rights Museum to get a full understanding of just how others have had to struggle to have their rights recognized.

The experience also helped students see how hard people today still have to fight in order to retain and utilize their rights--too many people are still working to have theirs taken seriously. Each day, a time for reflection was set aside in which students and members of the institute spoke to each other about the insight they had gained throughout their day’s work. It was a time not only to get to know each other, but to better understand one’s self. For many, the time was one of openness and understanding. Students were invited to share not only things they were pleased with throughout the day, but things they wished would have been done differently.

Time spent at the Gandhi Institute often changes the way participants view the world around them, helping them to achieve better harmony within themselves and their community.

First-year Kristina VanDyke was interested in the institute from the start, and wasn’t disappointed. “The Gandhi Institute was definitely a unique experience, and the people that went on the trip really made it what it was,” she said.

University of Hip-Hop

Chicago’s University of Hip-Hop encourages art in all forms as a positive way to express emotions and desires to a larger community, and offers art-based programs for youth of all ages.

The university believes the sense of isolation that occurs when the youth community is subjected to prejudice of any nature can be detrimental. Some of its goals are to change the frustration felt by victims of bias into healthy art pieces that communicate the challenges that, especially inner-city areas, children and teens experience on a daily basis.

Students who went on this trip attended art galleries, a play, lectures on graffiti, and a detailed tour of Chicago’s Latino District to view the forms of wall art in the area and see what messages were being displayed. Other tasks took the volunteers to an after-school program, where they spent time encouraging and assisting children as mentors from whom to learn valuable social skills. Yet another after-school activity brought them to Alternatives, where members of the university and Hamline students helped tutor children in whatever subjects they were having a hard time with.

Another part of the trip had to do with group discussions. Volunteers talked about what they thought the problems within Chicago as well as the Twin Cities were, offering advice to the group as to what solutions were viable for each of the areas.

“We discussed issues of race, gender, gentrification, education reform, service, everything we saw: the things that were beautiful and good and the things that needed to be changed,” First-year Rayna Olson said. She said the experience has been one of the most influential times of her life thus far.

Hamline volunteers who participated with the University of Hip-Hop got new insight into the value of culture and collective change, not to mention got to learn first-hand the accuracy in how the university breaks down the Hip-Hop acronymč“Healthy Independent People Helping Other People.”

When members of the community reach out to one another, the results are astounding. They are even more impressive when members of one community step out of their boundaries to help another. One should never underestimate the power of compassion, and when one person’s drive is beginning to dwindle, it is good to have someone behind them ready to continue where they left off and renew the spirit of those around them.

For the OSLV participants over spring break this year, as well as volunteers of all nature, there is a clear benefit for both the groups receiving aid and the groups providing it. Instead of taking time off, sometimes it is much more refreshing to take matters into your own hands and initiate change.