An old Jesuit maxim advises: “Go and see what the poor have to teach you.”
Spring break doesn’t have to be celebrated on a beach with bikini contests and surf competitions. For the adventurous, there are many alternative ways to spend a March vacation. Some involve learning and the fortitude to go against the herd.
The Campus Ministry Team at Fairfield University offers two spring break alternatives: the Urban Plunge and North American Mission Experience (N.A.M.E.).
Every spring, campus minister Melissa Reardon leads 15 students on the Urban Plunge. Taking off for a week to the inner city of Bridgeport, volunteers choose to live together as a community.
“I think that many aspects of the Plunge take participants out of their comfort zone,” said Reardon. “These aspects include living in community, living simply, without some of the material items that have become a part of our daily life and witnessing the struggles of the oppressed.”
Linda Davidow ’02, who volunteered for Urban Plunge in 2003, added, “It was disturbing to face the fact that people live in very uncomfortable situations.”
The goal of the Urban Plunge is to learn about and discuss the challenges of the American society through service, faith and solidarity.
Davidow said that she felt out of place at first in Bridgeport. She added, “But it was informative. We listened to different speakers and then went to sites and saw what they were talking about. We were learning and experiencing at the same time.”
Reardon said, “Students who participate in the Urban Plunge should have the desire to serve others, the desire to learn about the problems of urban poverty, and the desire to reflect critically on their faith and values in relation to service and justice. Ultimately, the Urban Plunge is an important opportunity for like-minded students to face, discuss and learn about the challenges of our society in a collaboration of service, faith, and fellowship.”
Like the Urban Plunge, N.A.M.E., led by Fr. Terrence Devino, sends ten volunteers to each of Martin County, Kentucky; Camden, New Jersey and Lebanon, Pennsylvania.
All three experiences offer a chance to serve, learn and find companionship between students. The program challenges students to learn from people who live in poverty in America.
“It challenged me to develop a wider perspective on the world, and specifically, American society,” said Tara Cushman ’05, who attended N.A.M.E. last spring break in Kentucky.
In Kentucky, volunteers work through Workfest 2004 with other university mission trips, sponsored by the Christian Appalachian Project. Volunteers work with their hands, installing roofs, constructing porches and even rebuilding entire houses.
In New Jersey, volunteers work at the Oscar Romero Center. The volunteers face social issues such as poverty while working in schools, housing construction, food banks, and centers for persons with HIV/AIDS.
In Pennsylvania, volunteers work with a future homeowner, helping to construct, restore and prepare sites.
“We built a house for a grandmother and her grandson,” said Jackie Duffy ’05 who traveled to Kentucky last year.
“We were building the floor of the house and he would come out in a lawn chair, and move it all around to watch us,” she said.
“Because he appreciated what we were doing, it made it that much more important. He still writes us letters thanking us for our work,” Duffy added.
Erin Teeling ’05 also benefitted from the experience.
“I decided to go to Kentucky because it was something different that I had never done before. It was more productive and rewarding than spending the time on a beach somewhere,” she said.
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