#service trips

Name: Natalie Ramirez

Year: Senior

Major: Social Welfare and Justice, and Spanish

When did you participate: 2013

How did you learn about IMAP?

I learned about IMAP through other Campus Ministry activities I was involved in.

What service work did you do on the trip?

This was not your typical service trip that you hear about when people go somewhere and help build or paint a house the whole time. IMAP was more of an immersion trip where our purpose was to engage ourselves into the culture of Quito and learn about their way of life. Each day we spent time with the community and built relationships with the people of The Working Boys Center. The purpose of this was to be able to come back home and share everything we experienced and learned. Serving the community of Quito this way brings dignity, respect, knowledge, and justice to Quito by spreading the word so others can better understand their situation. One of the biggest things you can do for someone is listen, especially in an unfamiliar culture.

What was your biggest take away?

​We did not go to Quito to just help fix something that their community is probably more than capable of changing on their own.  IMAP brought a new meaning to service trips for me, learning that when we go into a new community our goal should be to come back home, and share and help others understand what is going on in other places in the world. These kinds of trips are working toward justice more than charity. A trip like IMAP is more than giving your time to do labor but to take the time and talk with the community to truly understand their needs and how they should be addressed. A lot of the times we want to go in and fix something we think is necessary but find that the goal is to change something else entirely.

In conclusion my biggest take away would be that immersing yourself in a culture and lifestyle makes you more aware of yourself and the greater connection to the people in this world. This type of service is more rewarding for the community you are visiting. It is important to remember that short term service trips almost always are more beneficial to those coming to "help", so it is important to be conscious of this and have a different approach to international service trips like IMAP does. 

So, I guess I'll start with incidences in which Utah tried to kill me. Just a few though, because there were  A LOT of said incidents.

1. Tuesday afternoon KF and I decided to hammock way up in this really cool old tree. So we set it up and as I go to get into it I almost fall out and break my neck on the branch below. (The tree was very large with lots of really cool branches and we were a good twenty-feet off the ground hammocking in that sucker. 

2.Wednsday night there was a huge dust storm and visibility sucked absolute ass and we almost ran the car of the road multiple times because we couldn't see the damn road. 

3. Thursday afternoon, SR (a site leader), KF and I left the school we were working at to make "midnight snacks" for the whole group for our star-gazing plans that night. Anyways, the town were working in in Utah was in the middle of absolutely no whereville. And the church we were staying at was even further away. So as we drive to the church we pass a herd of goats. KF and I laugh and say we need to get a picture with them since our goal that trip was to spot a mountain goat. (A real one. We just thought taking pics with some domesticated goats on the bottom half of a mountain would be humorous) Anyways, we make the food and as we drive back we pass the herd again. KF and I get out to go take a selfie with the goats and notice two dogs kinda growling at us amoung the goats but they don't do anything. We decide not to get any further and get ready to take a selfie when a third dog leaps out of the herd and starts running towards us. It's teeth were bared and he was barking and growling and summoning satan all at once. So he tries to get to KF's achilles' heel and all I can picture is her getting ripped to shreds. The other two dogs decide to join in as well. Then they change course and start coming for me. I black out at this point. I don't remember anything but the feeling of hot dog breath trying to nip my heels and kill me and the feeling of "this is it. this is how I go." Somehow I managed to make it back into the car and so does KF. We're bawling and crying and laughing all at once while SR is laughing at what he just witnessed. We literally just sat there for a solid 3 minutes trying to put what just happened together. We group hugged that out for a long while. It was terrifying. 

Organic Farm Alternative Break: Dig into Food Justice and Judaism

March 23-30 in New Orleans 

Dig your hands into organic soil and let Jewish Farm School show you how farming can create positive change in your community. We offer week-long immersive farm experiences that explore the intersection of farming and food justice through hands-on farming, collaborative Jewish dialogue, skill-based workshops with social justice fighters and trained Jewish Farm School educators. 

We currently have a limited number of open spots available on each our trips. If you are interested in joining us in New Orleans, the Pearlstone Retreat Center, or Philadelphia fill out this application http://bit.ly/1cja3mn and someone from our office will contact you within 1 business day.

Price is $500 per participant + travel to site location. Cost includes a full-week of service learning + accommodations and food as well as travel during the break. LImited financial aid is available. Visit jewishfarmschool.org/servicelearning/ or contact Cassie Peña at [email protected] for more information.

A selective, year-long program designed to inspire, educate and train key opinion leaders in the American Jewish community:

Program-in-Brief

What: A year-long fellowship designed to inspire and equip New York Area young leaders to become effective advocates for global justice. The fellowship includes a 7-day trip to Nicaragua and innovative trainings designed to develop skills in organizing and advocacy.

When: U.S. programming from December 2013 – 2014; international travel from March 16–23, 2014

Where: In addition to international travel to Nicaragua, meetings will take place in New York City, Washington D.C. and via a virtual seminar space.

*Who: Young adults, ages 20 to 26, currently living in the New York City area.

Application Deadline: Tuesday, October 15, 2013

Justifi is a life-changing Social Justice program that takes Jewish college students and recent grads to Thailand to work with victims of human trafficking and child sexual exploitation.  During a 2-week trip, we travel across Thailand to work with multiple start-up non-profit organizations to do meaningful projects on the ground and understand how today's innovative social entrepreneurs are tackling one of the world's most urgent issues – Human Trafficking. 

The Details: The trip is for Jewish students and young adults, aged 20 – 30, and costs $699 + a $350 fundraising goal for our sponsored projects. Prices do not include airfare, but we have deferred-payment options to help make payment simple and easy. Need based scholarships are also available. Visit Justifi.org for more info and to sign up for an interview.

See our Facebook group here: https://www.facebook.com/Justifi.org?fref=ts

Or contact