Reflections on Winter Break Service in Georgia and Texas


February 4, 2018

Alt Text

One week in the city of Clarkston, Georgia by Marisa Cordon

This past Winter Break, I had the privilege to be the Learning Partner for the GW Alternative Breaks to Atlanta. Even though I was a Learning Partner last Spring as well, this felt like a completely new experience to me. I had limited knowledge on the trip’s issue area, refugee resettlement, and none of the participants (except for one) had ever gone on an alternative break before. Most of us had never been to Atlanta either, so we had the opportunity to also visit the National Center for Civil and Human Rights, and learn much more about Martin Luther King Jr. by visiting the Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Park (including his childhood home and the church where he and his father were pastors at).

Our group of 13 partnered with Friends of Refugees, a non-profit organization whose mission is to serve the refugee community in Clarkston by providing them with opportunities to better adjust to their new lives upon arrival to the U.S. We were all initially shocked to learn that 60% of the city’s population are refugees, which helped to contextualize the great need for organizations like Friends of Refugees and the vital services that they provide to this community. Such services include: job searching, serving kids through summer camps and after school programs, offering English classes to mothers and their children, helping to promote healthier pregnancies through a doula program, offering plots of land in a community garden for families to grow their own produce, encourage new business through a business accelerator program, etc.

Our main projects included helping with the after-school program as well as assisting with cleaning the community garden. However, one of the biggest components from this trip was also education, in order for us to better understand the issue area and also to understand the importance and value of advocacy (beyond our experience in an Alt Break). I was very impressed with the maturity of the participants, their thought-provoking and insightful questions, and their openness. I am certain this was an eye-opening experience for all of us in some way. This trip gave me the ability to redefine and reshape my perceptions of refugees, to inspire me to become more educated on the issue, and to continue to seek experiences in the future that will allow me to be of service to refugee communities.

Marisa's Alt. Breaks Trip

 

El Paso and Juarez: The Great Divide by Matthew Basista

I had the incredible opportunity and privilege to be one of two Learning Partners for the GW Alternative Breaks trip to El Paso. Although I had been on two other alternative breaks, this trip was, by far, the most interactive and immersive that I had experienced. El Paso’s unique geographic location (at the border of Texas and New Mexico, and right along the US-Mexico border) made it the ideal location for the trip’s issue area: immigration and border rights.

Our group of fourteen was generously hosted and provided for by Iglesia Luterana Cristo Rey, a local Lutheran ministry that connects community members, advocacy groups, elected officials, and law enforcement across both sides of the border. Among other services to the community, Cristo Rey hosts a Border Immersion Program designed to educate participant groups like our own on the social, economic, and political issues affecting the community. Cristo Rey’s incredible staff afforded our group the opportunity to engage numerous first-generation Mexican immigrants and hear their accounts of life in the El Paso and Ciudad Juarez metropolitan region and the influence of U.S. immigration policy. We met members of the Cristo Rey community through religious services, visitations to private residences and community centers, and planning & facilitating activities for Cristo Rey’s After School Program.

We were also able to witness approximately thirty immigration court case hearings, with the opportunity to meet with the judge and a Federal Public Defender for Q&A at the conclusion of the proceedings in Las Cruces, New Mexico. An organization called the Border Network for Human Rights provided an extensive, shocking policy brief on the state of the immigrant population in El Paso. I was shocked to see a copy of the U.S. State Department’s Visa Bulletin to realize just how long the legal process for permanent residency may take. For example, did you know that a parent who is a US citizen (originally from Mexico) applying for their child’s visa for residency in September 1995 finally received a notification to assemble the required paperwork to complete the process in June 2017? Cristo Rey convened a Q&A session with agents from the border patrol along the US side of the border fence. The next day, we were able to visit the opposite side of the wall in Anapra, a suburb of Juarez while interviewing Cristo Rey community partners, including a pro bono medical and dental clinic.  

The trip was incredibly informative and a life-changing experience. My participants proved themselves to be exceptionally open, inquisitive, critical, reflective, and well-informed with a diverse variety of perspectives to contribute. I am eager to continue working with them as we continue to educate ourselves on the issue area, reflect on the experience, and continue direct service, advocacy, and philanthropy together to sustain the bonds we forged with each other and the communities that graciously hosted us.  

Matthew's Alt. Breaks Trip


GW is fortunate to have a robust Alternative Breaks program that empowers and challenges students to become global, active citizens and leaders. Through service, education, and reflection, the program facilitates personal growth, social awareness, and sustained bonds with people from various communities in a mutually beneficial experience. Please feel free to contribute to the GW Alternative Breaks program or to a trip of your choice!