SVC trip takes student volunteers to Central America during break

While most students spent intersession skiing, working on theses, or visiting friends at other colleges, several underclassmen ventured to more exotic locales to do humanitarian work.

The Student Volunteers Council sponsored trips to Honduras and Georgia, while several other students visited Haiti with the Catholic-based organization Hands Together.

One SVC group spent the week in Siguatepeque, a large town south of San Pedro Sula, Honduras, where they joined volunteers from Habitat for Humanity in building a house for a young family.

According to Jaynie Randall '99, she and Shlomit Levav '99 first became interested in leading a trip to Honduras last summer, and began researching the project when they returned here this fall.

In a country that is not as accustomed to service projects and volunteer work as the United States, Randall said, the size of the Honduras-based program impressed her.

Dedication

"What struck me most was the dedication of the Habitat for Humanity people from Honduras," said Randall. Honduran volunteers have completed between 300 to 400 houses for needy families.

"It was inspirational being around these people," she added.

"I was most impressed with the young age of Naum, the beneficiary of the home we helped build. He's only 23 but he has somehow managed to earn the means and make the effort to improve his family's life. Talking with him was my favorite part of the work," Levav said.

Tim Howe '00, a history and Latin American studies student, joined the trip in order to gain experience in planning service projects.

"This trip was a great opportunity to extend the Princeton University volunteer experience to other countries," Howe said.

The SVC plans to sponsor the trip to Honduras again next year. According to Levav, subsequent trips will incorporate work in varying locations in Honduras.

On the other SVC trip, four students went to Marrietta, Georgia, to work at a soup kitchen and homeless shelter. According to Paul Black '01, the group worked with Ministries United for Service and Training, an organization that provides food, clothing, and shelter, as well as interview training for homeless people.

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The volunteers also organized a trailer full of clothing and other donations.

The Hands Together group that traveled to Haiti visited an orphanage, a hospice center, a pediatric clinic, and schools in the city of Port-Au-Prince and in rural northern villages.

According to Renee Hsia '99, some members concentrated on spreading the gospel in Haiti, the western hemisphere's poorest country.

"I hear about poverty a lot but I wanted to experience it for myself," she added.

The organization leading the Haiti trip has University roots. Hands Together was founded by Father Tom Hagan, a priest who previously worked at the Aquinas Institute in Princeton.