Hello everyone!

I hope the end of your school year has gone smoothly! Now we can begin our summer break! I will be working as a development intern at a performing arts center. I will update more about that later but I wanted to talk about the amazing trip I went on right after finals!

I volunteered for a week-long Alternative Break - Rural Poverty Relief Initiative to Beard’s Fork, West Virginia. This trip was through Hillel, one of the Jewish groups on campus. Global Volunteers, an international organization, set us up with a work site in West Virginia where we spent a week helping build a dorm for future volunteers.

The outside of the dorm.

We worked with the Southern Appalachin Labor School (SALs), a program that helps people our age get their GED’s and learn construction skills. They taught us everything! I helped put up drywall, sand and prime a room, and my favorite - dig a ditch!

My favorite ditch!

The work was very fun and rewarding, I could see the actual progress that I had made with my own hands. The members of SALs were really awesome, they all had stories to share with us.

Since the trip was through a Jewish group, we did some “Jewish Learning” in the evening, which helped us understand the importance of service in the Jewish tradition. We also learned about the Torah and observed the Sabbatj. On Shabbat we went on a long hike up Beard’s Fork Road, and relaxed from our days of work.

On Sunday, we went white water rafting on the New River Gorge, which was a first for most of us. That was really exciting and scary, we rafted on class V rapids!! Fortunately our rafting guide was really knowledgeable and helped us get through some sticky situations.

The New River Gorge bridge, which is one of the longest of its kind.

A scenic shot of the New River Gorge.

West Virginia is a beautiful state. The trees are a lush green, the sky is a pure blue. Unfortunately, the state is filled with poverty. Many of the towns we drove through, including Beard’s Fork, which is just one long road, are unincorporated, meaning there is no town government, garbage pick-up, police, fire department, hospital - the nearest help could be a half-hour away! Many of the houses are small. I learned that most of the land is owned by coal mining companies from other states, who don’t care about the environmental impact of their businesses. Certain mining procedures could leave communities with flooded lands, ruined drinking water, and toxic ponds. Many people are more concerned about finding work than lobbying the government to regulate the mining industry.

Hopefully our efforts were helpful for SALs. They see many volunteers each year but I’d like to think our group made an impact. I will certainly try to go on more alternative breaks! Many people on this trip had been on previous trips and obviously had such a great time they decided to go on another.

Overall this trip was an amazing experience, I learned so much about myself and about another community, other people, and of course how to dig a ditch. I made some great friends who I miss and hopefully we will keep in touch.

There are so many more things about this trip I can’t even put into words… it was just incredible.

--Sarah