PELLA — Twelve Central College students will spend spring break on an international service trip to San Jorge la Laguna, Guatemala. The students arrive in San Jorge Monday, March 14, to facilitate the implementation of an environmental/sustainability education program in their community and school.
San Jorge, in the western highlands of Guatemala, is a town of around 3,500 people. The primary language is Kaqchikel with Spanish as a secondary. Students will help build a wall in a schoolyard in San Jorge made of recycled materials. The school children collected bottles and will assist the Central students with construction. The school has attendance of 500-600 students and receives no funding from the government.
The Guatemala trip was spearheaded by Allison Krogstad, associate professor of Spanish. She visited the Kaqchikel Mayan town in January 2010 and again in March 2010. After returning, she contacted several people on campus about planning a service trip and began arranging the first ever international alternative spring break trip.
“I was very impressed with the community’s grassroots efforts in regard to environmental issues,” Krogstad said.
Krogstad is the adviser for the group. Esther Streed, associate professor of education, and Valerie Grimsley, director of the Merida, Mexico study abroad program, will accompany the group.
The first alternate spring break trip was in 2009 to Moab, Utah, and began as an option for students who wanted to do service work in a civic engagement setting. The Austin, Texas, trip option was added in conjunction with last year’s first-year students’ common reading book, Enrique’s Journey, which focused on helping recent immigrants. Alternate spring break became a recognized student organization during the 2009-10 academic year.
