ASB Kentucky Appalachians

Spring break in Kentucky? Why are ten Jewish kids headed to Harlan Country Kentucky? This may sound like an unlikely place for university students to travel, on their spring break, but it was the one place where ten curious students were needed.



MSU Hillel’s Teva program decided to head down to Harlan County to understand the growing issue of mountain top removal. The name says it all. Coal companies take explosives to mountains in order to extract coal in the fastest and easiest way.  Like anything else, there is a price to pay when human beings are exploiting nature’s finest resources. Not only are mountains left bare, all the rich soil is unusable, forests are clear-cut and animals are left without their habitat. Even the vast rivers that flow throughout the Appalachian region are contaminated due to the metals that have now consumed the water.



As a student/leader on this trip I expected that the environmental degradation of mountain top removal site would be this extreme, however, I was completely speechless when I came to the area. The community and people have built their lives around the coal industry and now only 11% of the people are working within the field. I was shocked to hear that there are places in our country where the resources are not being protected. Coming from Michigan I have a strong familiarity with our will to protect the Great Lakes. Learning that dangerous mountain top sites are only a hike away from people’s homes left me with the feeling that not only are the resources exploited but the people as well. The air the people breathe is polluted. Their homes are left with a layer of coal filth and worst of all they are in a range were boulders could come crashing down upon their homes. This industry has always been seen as wicked, but now more then ever it seems to have pushed one step too far.



The ten of us from MSU Hillel worked with an advocacy group, Mountain Justice, to fight against coal mining in the area. During this weeklong trip we went to old coal sites and planted 50 trees apiece. We traveled to people’s homes so we could help them in preparation for cold weather. Harlan County is one of the poorest county’s in America and people do not have the means to work on their homes. During these projects we insulated, calked, painted, changed light bulbs and created connections with these people. Tikkun Olam, repairing the world, one step at a time.



Apart from the hands-on learning, we gained understanding of what the people of Harlan County are like. We listened and danced to mountain folk music. Tasted the cuisine of classic fried dishes, hiked in the Appalachian area and watched a number of videos to familiarize ourselves with the atmosphere we were in. Not to mention learned how to drive along the sides of mountains, as wildlife was quickly passing us!



As a representative from this trip, I can account to this life-changing experience. I realize that “life-changing” often gets thrown around but this trip sincerely gave each of us an adventure that we will never forget.


-Nina Patchak
Chair of Teva

Amir's ASB Rhyme

Lasting Thoughts

Wow. After going into the week with curbed expectations, having never participated in an Alternative Break trip as a staff member nor a student, I cannot begin to explain what an eye-opening experience our trip to L.A. was. The week was filled with motivational speakers, countless group discussions (probably too many if you were to ask a student), hours of service work in the scorching L.A. sun, and of course, endless amounts of fun.

Our first speaker, Rabbi Shmuly Yanklowitz, talked about the trip, and asked whether students thought it was a service trip or a learning trip. A majority of students were quick to shout that it was strictly a service trip, but I'm sure if you asked those same students today, their answers would be different.

What is the goal of 4 days of service work in a new environment?
Is the goal to improve the schools and leave a lasting impression on the students we've helped?
Are we doing more harm then help in becoming role models for young kids and then disappearing on a whim? 
Is it more beneficial to donate the trips cost to LA schools, which would allow them to afford many more tangible supplies than we created in a weeks worth of time?

These are all questions that we struggled with and discussed throughout the week. Questions that left us overwhelmed, exhausted, inspired, open-minded, and FIRED UP (as the City Year members would say). While I can't speak for anyone but myself, I'd say that after a week of service, it is clear that the service City Year puts together has little to do with the direct effect our work has on the LA community or its students, but to the participants themselves.

WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO WHEN YOU GET HOME?

The afterschool program we participated in at Palms Elementary, stationed in West LA doesn't seem like such an impoverish neighborhood. But when you hear from their principal, who tells you that 84% of their students families live below the poverty line, and 99% of their students live in apartments, some with more than 6 siblings, it brings everything into perspective. The program we worked with, funded by the city of LA for families that can't afford after-school care, employs ONE WOMAN for 60 STUDENTS. 60!

First grade Brandon, whom I helped with his math homework, and couldn't quite grasp the idea of counting by ones, is an anomaly for inner city students across the country. He told me "the police took away his Mom's car," and has to ride 2 buses to pick him up from school. With over-sized classrooms, 3 hours round-trip travel time to and from school, and no after school homework help, how is Brandon supposed to learn?

For kids like Brandon who may never receive one-on-one attention, the effects of our time at Palms Elementary may be insurmountable. As we stood outside during a fire drill on Friday afternoon, Principal Smith had students come to the microphone and explain which of our projects they were most thankful for. As the kids showed their gratitude one by one, it became more difficult for many that spent their Spring Break doing service to refrain from tears (maybe myself included). It is not only the students that we worked to make a difference for last week, but the idea that their are kids like this no matter what community you live in.

The message that I took from this week is that their is hope, but not without us. A week of service cannot end when we step onto the plane to Detroit, because there are thousands of Brandon's across the country, in every community, of every state. After spending the week with an amazing group of motivating, thought-provoking individuals, privileged with the power to make a difference in the world,it left me with one closing thought that a teacher from an LA Charter School told us earlier in the week, "The happiest people are doing the things they love the most."

Follow what you are most passionate about, whether it's health-care, human rights, or education, and we can all make a difference.

So, what are you going to do next?

-Josh Fishman
MSU Hillel Program Associate

Slideshow Recap of ASB LA

Final Touches

Today started out just like every other workday of our trip. Unfortunately it was our last day at Nora Sterry elementary school. We started off with PT with our amazing city year crew. We then split up into our work groups and began to finish all of the projects we started at the beginning of the week. My group was fortunate enough to work on the project we started on our first day. We finished putting together the reading benches, re-stained the picnic tables and painted checkerboards onto them for the kids. We then were able to walk around and see all of the amazing projects that we as a group were able to accomplish in such a little amount of time.

Then, during lunch we had a closing ceremony that wrapped up the entire week. City year and Hillel leaders spoke and thanked the entire 100 college students for the work they put in this week. Also, the principal of Nora Sterry spoke to us about how appreciative she, her staff and all of her kids were for what we did to improve their school. We then were apart of the kid’s fire drill towards the end lunch. There, some of the kids came up to the microphone and spoke to us and thank us for the work that we did. It was great to see how their smiles and hear how happy they were that we did this for them.

At the end of the day we headed back to the hotel to get ready for Shabbat. We met up in the lobby of the hotel and headed to Hillel with everyone for services and dinner. We were able to choose between services or discussions that were being held over topics that related to our work this week. During dinner, we were able to meet tons of Jewish students from UCLA and talk to them about our experiences over the past week. After dinner we split up into different groups and had a boundary breaking activity where we learned a lot about other people on the trip. This was a very good way to end the night and close off the week as we entered into Shabbat. 

-Jenna Pickman

What's next?

Terrified…Lost…Enthusiastic…Motivated...These are only a few emotions that can begin to describe how some of us ASB’ers are feeling. This trip has been taken to a whole new level, and it’s safe to say I think some of us are even at a loss of words. As I’m sitting here reflecting upon this overall experience, and our last day with the children at Palms Elementary school, I really am having trouble…It’s difficult to verbalize all of the thoughts and emotions encompassing my brain. I have never, since the day I’ve wanted to be an educator, experienced the emotions I felt yesterday. Some often say that “goodbye” isn’t forever, and with these children I’d like to say it isn’t for me. But as we hugged our kids, turned our backs from names being screamed, and wiped the streaming tears off of our cheek, one can’t help but feel that forever, is forever. I know, along with each and every person on this trip, that the service we have done for these children, and this community the past week, has left an imprint. Some of those kids did not want to say bye to us, and probably couldn’t fathom the fact that we would never be back again. But the question is, what do we do now? We’ve volunteered with these inner-city schools for 4 days, and made a world of a difference. Now, the future is in our hands. We’ve seen how poorly run these schools are, and the lacking beauty of the school’s appearance. From the picnic tables we worked our butts off to create, to the beautiful murals we painted on the walls, these schools have already been transformed. As we sat there on Thursday saying goodbye to the kids, and stood there Friday looking out to all of the beautiful work we created, there were no words. That final day of service almost made me feel like I was hit by a truck; I was lost and confused, yet extremely motivated and FIRED UP! It’s our job as not only future educators, but humans in this world, to create what’s next to come. Together, we need to do something that will make a difference for forever. After all, ASBers, haven’t we learned that together is better than alone?

 -Lucy Keller

 

Day 3

After a night of reflection our team of volunteers came back to the schools with more enthusiasm, lingering questions, and excitement to start another great day of service.   We arrived at the work sites determined to integrate our freshly defined knowledge of what kind of impact we’d like to make and better ways to accomplish our goals.

            The day began with our now ritual physical training, surplus water, and sunscreen.  The biggest obstacle of our day could have easily been the harsh California heat, rising to around 75 degrees.  Although, there was some physical and mental exhaustion the team was able to overcome it with positive attitudes, teamwork, and great conversation.  Many of us were able to become a little closer to the city year staff and got a really great inside look on the great organization that planned our trip.  As we came closer to finishing the second half of our day we finally able to see some finished products of our hard work.  It’s only our second day working on our projects, but they already look great and we feel so proud of our hard work.

            The afternoon spent with the kids in the after school program gave us a really fun break.  Many of the kids remembered our names and faces and couldn’t wait for us to start playing games with them.   It’s really exciting to see all of the relationships that have already formed between the kids and the volunteers, but also scary to think of only having one more day together.

            As we filled on the bus to head back there was a lot of excitement for the upcoming night in Santa Monica.  We all enjoyed shopping, good meals, and some therapeutic beach time.  As a group we all had a great time star gazing, feeling the ocean, and getting to know each other better.  To wrap the night up, a few of us grabbed some food at IN IN OUT, the most popular fast food chain in Cali, and made aware of the seriousness of Jay- walking.  It’s been an amazing time with a nice mix of service and sightseeing, and I look forward to another great day tomorrow.

 -Emily Berlin

 

Group working on untangling the Human Knot.

 

Matt repainting an old shed.

Group painting murals inside school

Day 2 in Sunny Los Angeles

Yesterday we started off the day by going to Nora Sterry Elementary School in inner city Los Angeles. We split up into small groups and began our projects for the week as we tried to better the schools playground area. Within these groups some painted, sandpapered wood,  or knocked down an old wood fence. My group, The VanGoughs, started painting the word "Welcome" in many different languages as an entrance mural for the school. 

After eating a brief lunch we moved to Palms Elementary School to assist them in their after school program. We enjoyed helping students with their homework, playing outside sports and talking with them and learning about their backgrounds. I connected with a young girl who wanted to play a different game. We got a huge group of students and volunteers together and played a big game of kickball. The students were so enthusiastic about the game and were commenting on how they have never played so long because it was never this fun. They all were so positive and happy to be playing. What I loved was the fact that they all had really great attitudes even though the team I was on was losing badly. 

Other volunteers learned things from the elementary school students such as step dance moves and new games. After spending a few hours at the school we went to have another great dinner at Hillel where we had some yummy tacos. We also had a guest speaker who talked about public education in the state of California. We then broke into campus groups and the Michigan State students had a great discussion reflecting on our great experiences so far. We had a great time working with the kids and  doing service and we cannot wait to finish our projects and play with the kids more this week! 

-Taylor Lederman

 

Tearing down a wood fence to build a new mural

 

Ben and Emily sanding wood for new picnic benches

 

Priming wood to be painted

Our First Day!

Today was a great day in Los Angeles! The weather was beautiful.  We started at the Jewish Home for the Aging.  We sang, played bingo and had meaningful conversations with the elderly.  They told us how much they enjoyed our company and appreciated the time we spent with them.  Many told us that they rarely get visitors and we were happy to be with them for the morning.  We had a picnic lunch at a park while listening to motivational speakers including Rabbi Shmuly, Senior Jewish Educator at UCLA Hillel.  We learned about the different forms of tzedaka and giving back to our community.  We are very happy to be giving back to the community by visiting the elderly and are looking forward to working with and tutoring impoverished children.

-Alana Kingsley and Hannah Stromberg

Raffi recyling!

Hanging out in the park post lunch!

Happy 19th Birthday Amanda!!

Welcome to LA!

After months of planning and preparing its finally Spring Break! This afternoon, all 29 ASB-ers will converge on Los Angeles. This week will be incredibly busy with volunteering with City Year Los Angeles and the Jewish community of Los Angeles, hearing speakers from the Los Angeles community and time to get a taste of what LA has to offer. (And maybe a celebrity sighting if we're lucky!)

During the week we will be volunteering at  Nora Sterry Elementary school and Palms Elementary school. At Nora Sterry we will be planting new landscape, creating an outdoor classroom space, painting murals and more. At Palms Elementary we will be assisting in the after-school programs.

The following blog posts will document our week through the participant's eyes. We hope you enjoy!