SLS’s Alternative Spring Break Program is designed to provide students the opportunity to create and implement a service-learning experience that addresses pressing social issues facing local and global communities. The program aims to inspire, educate, and empower participants to make a difference in the lives of others.

This program is student-initiated and student-led. Student-leaders and participants are required to take an active approach in this educational experience by attending pre-trip meetings and implementing a post-trip project. Read the Alternative Spring Break Grant Application for more information.

Help us create sustainable change by donating to this year’s Alternative Spring Break program. The money raised will contribute to general group costs not covered by participant fees and departmental contributions.

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Learn More about the 2013 Program

Environmental and Social Sustainability on Island Communities

Turks and Caicos Islands
March 22nd- 31st

This year’s Alternative Spring Break program is focused on a service-oriented and hands-on approach to exploring the effects of globalization on an island community.

A group of 9 participants, 2 student trip-leaders, and a staff adviser will travel to the island of South Caicos to view the environmental and cultural changes that may occur as it transitions from a fishing-based economy to a tourism-based economy. In partnership with the School of Field Students and local nonprofits and businesses, participants will engage in projects and discussions that address the social and environmental effects of globalization. The trip itinerary includes visits with local fisherman and community members, tours of current tourism developments, community outreach events with the School of Field Studies, and beach clean-up projects.

Participants will be documenting their trip through a blog and documentary film. The film will be shown alongside a presentation to the Lewis & Clark community upon return.

   

Trip Goals:
  • Provide an introduction to the issues of social and environmental justice occurring in the Turks and Caicos Islands and to foster an understanding of the positive and negative effects of globalization (e.g. tourism) through community engagement.
  • Gain a broader understanding of our role as advocates for these issues to and incorporate our learning on the trip back into our liberal arts education and to share our experience with the greater Lewis & Clark community.
  • Develop strong partnerships with local businesses and organizations that will provide useful contacts for future Lewis & Clark students and potential groups.
Participant Profiles:

Ian Blair (Co-Leader): Privet! (That’s hi in Russian) I’m Ian! I am a sophomore Religious Studies/Philosophy major with a minor in Russian. I’m co-leading this trip to help explore the intricacies of globalization in an island community. I hope to expand my personal theoretical learnings of philosophy and anthropology through interacting with Belongers during my stay in the Turks and Caicos. I am working on acquiring skills and equipment to make a documentary so that I can share everything I’ve learned with other people!

Eva Ramey (Co-Leader): My name is Eva Ramey and I am a sophomore Environmental Studies major at Lewis & Clark. As a co-leader of this trip, I am hoping to introduce my peers to the issues surrounding environmental sustainability in the Turks and Caicos Islands. Having previously spent a summer studying marine biology on the island of South Caicos, I am looking forward to providing participants on this trip the opportunity to interact with the local community who became my close friends. I am excited to watch each member our group, including myself, learn, grow, and incorporate our experience back into our studies at LC.

Will Provost: My name is Will Provost; I’m a senior economics student. My coursework and research has been concentrated in public policy and environmental economics. I’m very excited to participate in this trip and projects because it allows me to witness how what I’ve been studying looks in the real world. This trip will inform my future studies and aspirations in public policy.

Jasmine Minjia Yan: My name is Jasmine Minjia Yan, and I am a sophomore economics student. As an international student from China, I have witnessed lots of changes brought by economic globalization in my city, and I am really excited to go to Turks and Caicos Islands because it will enable me to observe and examine the similar process of transformation. I am also looking forward to enriching both of my academic and life experiences by sharing ideas, and interacting with the local community through this one-week service project!

Rosa Kim: Hi, my name is Rosa Kim and I am from a small yet beautiful island in South Korea. As an International Affairs major with a double minor is Economics and Political Economy, I have been deeply interested in poverty, inequality, and human rights issues. I wish this service trip to Turks and Caicos could be a step towards understanding the real cost and impact of globalization and development.

Lexi Bolton: Hi, my name is Lexi and I am a senior Biology major. I am excited to be part of this trip because I love to travel and discover new people and places. I look forward to gaining an interdisciplinary understanding of globalization, especially to see how biology may intersect with these issues. I appreciate the chance to be intentional about serving this community and the chance to enhance my studies beyond the classroom.

Hunter Meece: Hello, my name is Hunter! I am a sophomore Religious Studies major who is fascinated by exotic cultures and beliefs. I love to spend the majority of my time in the outdoors and I am excited for the experience of completing a service project by Lewis & Clark students. This trip will be an excellent opportunity to assist the inhabitants of Turks and Caicos and help me further understand the effects of foreign influences on native life.

Daniel Leavenworth: My name is Daniel Leavenworth and I am currently a sophomore at Lewis & Clark. I am majoring in International Affairs with a primary interest in global environmental issues like international sustainable development. Outside of classes, I enjoy working in the ASLC Senate to represent my classmates and the office of sustainability on campus to further my understanding of “sustainability” and advance sustainability initiatives here on campus. In the Turks and Caicos Islands, I am excited to continue studying environmental issues on the global scale. Indeed, these environmentally ravaged islands are a great place to study the effects of international development on the environment, and I hope to gain a deep understanding of all the actors involved and how their interests diverge or perhaps even how they line up. Overall, I am excited to embark on this journey: it could very well turn out to be a life-changing experience.

Caroline Bascetta: Hi, my name is Caroline Bascetta. I am a freshman here at Lewis & Clark and although my major is undecided, I have a strong interest in learning about different lifestyles around the world. I am excited to be traveling to Turks and Caicos to experience and discover what their culture is like and how we are able to be part of it. This past year, I have studied a great amount about the impacts of globalization and I am most intrigued to provide service to these communities and share a learning experience outside the classroom.

Ang Li: I’m Ang Li, a freshman interested in Psychology and International Affairs at Lewis & Clark College. Provided with excellend academic resources and inspiring peers here, I am also strongly motivated to establish an outreach to the real world. This tremendous opportunity of carrying various group and independent researches in Turks and Caicos, I firmly believe, it will be of great value to both my capability and personality. Besides, what I want to achieve by participating this program is to benefit the local community more or less through the outcomes of our team’s studies. I am eager to know about the foreign population’s impact on different aspects of the society in Turks and Caicos, as well as their roles in the tendency of economic development and globalization. I will try to incorporate both the immigrants’ and the native citizens’ options. I hope my research can be gift for everyone who wants to know more about Turks and Caicos and psychology/economics/sociology related topics. By the way, I’m a photographers and I will be more than happy to share our photos at Caribbean islands with everyone!

Daniela Lopez: Hi, my name is Daniela Lopez and I am currently a freshman at Lewis & Clark. I am majoring in Political Sciences and I have an interest in Economics. I am very excited to learn about the political implications of a place exposed to so much globalization like the Caicos Islands. I hope to learn more about the political tensions between the government, the people, and the businesses on the islands. By learning about these tensions, I will be able to better understand what effects they have on the local economy. I am also very excited to learn about what other people in the group are studying and how all of our studies may fit in with each other. I hope to learn about the culture of Turks and Caicos people by helping out and serving in the community. This is my first time leaving the country by myself and I could not be any more stoked!