Winter Term In Service offers students unique experiences

This year's Winter Term In Service program took DePauw students to three continents for volunteer work and immersed learning experiences.More than 90 students went on five service trips to Florida, Belize, Cameroon, India and Vietnam. Travelers participated in activities from studying about the impact of sex tourism on India's Goa region to building latrines in Cameroonian villages.

Winter Term In Service Director Sarah Ryan said this year's trips, all first-time destinations for the program, generated high student and faculty interest.

"We had probably more students than ever interested in Winter Term In Service," Ryan said. "We had just an enormous waitlist."

Senior Melyna Hernandez served as the Hartman House's intern for Winter Term In Service and helped plan the trips. She also participated in the Belize trip as the project officer. It was Hernandez's third Winter Term In Service trip.

"A Winter Term In Service trip allows you to be in another country and enjoy your experience there, but give back to the community at the same time," Hernandez said.

In Belize, students did work in the town of Orange Walk, helping to construct a playground, tutoring children and working at local medical facilities.

"I think it was really beneficial that we were able to have experience in the three areas," said senior Amanda Decker, the reflections officer for the Belize trip. "By far the best part of the trip was the people that we got to know."

Decker said her two Winter Term In Service trips to Nicaragua and Belize have helped her decide to pursue a career in working for an international volunteer organization once she graduates this spring.

"The Winter Term In Service program challenges ideas and perceptions, which I think is the goal of DePauw," Decker said.

Professor Susan Dewey hoped the trip to India she helped plan would change students' perceptions. She has done extensive research in India, and used her own contacts to design activities for DePauw's service trip. She said being with students who were visiting India for the first time helped her remember how special the country's culture is.

"I've spent the last 12 years of my life in and out of India," Dewey said. "It was really interesting to see India through new eyes."

In planning the trip to India's Goa region, Dewey wanted to focus on cultural education as much as service. She said students were exposed to people of varying backgrounds in India, not just those in need.

"If you go to a country and just look at the poor, you don't get an accurate picture," Dewey said. "I think that sometimes it can be patronizing if you go in with a missionary attitude. ... As I see it, it's an honor and a privilege to be welcomed into a community."

With the spring semester now in full swing, the Winter Term In Service office is already planning next year's trips. Ryan said proposals for Winter Term 2008 are due in two weeks.

Ryan said one major change her office will have to deal with next year is the addition of freshmen to the application pool. This year freshmen were allowed to study off-campus for Winter Term for the first time, but were not able to participate in Winter Term In Service because the deadline for applying was last year.

"One thing we've considered is proposing six trips instead of five ... so that we could meet the needs of not only some first-year students, but the internationalization efforts as well," Ryan said.