Students give up vacation to help less fortunate

Instead of spending a week relaxing, senior Andrea Zambrano will lead a team of five students to volunteer in Peru through the Alternative Break Program.

“The Alternative Break Program provides students the opportunity to work on issues domestically and internationally,” said Spring 2012 ABP Director Kelly Donoughe.
Eleven trips are planned for spring break. Each trip has a team of about six students and a team leader, Donoughe said. Each team is paired with a nonprofit organization.

Two teams will go abroad for spring break. One is pairing with Outreach 360 in Nicaragua, and the other is pairing with Coprodeli USA in Peru. The other teams will stay in the United States. Both nonprofits deal with education.

Zambrano went to Alabama last spring break with ABP, but said she wanted to become more involved this year by becoming a team leader.

“Last year, I just went on the trip,” she said. “For me, it wasn’t enough to go on another trip. I’m really passionate about education. I always have this week where you could rest, but I have time to give those hours in volunteering I don’t have during the year.”

As team leader, Zambrano said she worked on contacting nonprofits and figuring out housing, transportation and the team’s budget.

Zambrano also persuaded her friend, sophomore Kristina Carrillo, to participate in ABP. Carrillo looked for a trip that dealt with children and education and will be traveling to Nicaragua.

“I heard people talk about it, but didn’t really know what it was,” Carrillo said. “Andrea said to apply and always talked about it and sounded really excited, and I didn’t have something to do for spring break. Peru was my first choice, but I was placed in the Nicaragua trip.”

Carrillo said she is looking forward to learning a little bit more about the world.

“I haven’t traveled a lot, but I’m interested in learning about the economic situation there and stuff we take for granted here,” she said. “You see and hear stuff on the news, but you never experience it.”

Although the program is run by the Civic Leadership Development in the Kelley School of Business, all students, no matter their majors, are allowed to participate, Donoughe said.

“The goal is to become an active citizen,” she said. “We want students to take their experiences back from spring break and be more cognizant of issues in the community. We want it to be a continuous experience.”

To help with the cost of the trip, students can send letters to families and friends asking for donations. Scholarships are also offered through the IU Student Association.
Zambrano said she also looks forward to making a difference in people’s lives.

“To me, it’s really about making an impact on the people we help,” Zambrano said. “I just remember meeting the person we built a house for last year, and it was really special.”