The Beyond Bama Alternative Break program in the Center for Leadership and Service allows students to travel to diverse communities, domestic and abroad, while engaging in service and experiential learning. These short-term service trips during academic breaks provide an all-inclusive experience for students while focusing on issues such as literacy, poverty, homelessness, education, disaster relief and the environment.
The most recent trip, taken Oct. 25-28, took 100 UA students to Houston to help with disaster relief. Two of the team members have shared their blogs about the transformative experience.
#Ttown4Htown
Laura Miles, Beyond Bama team leader
When we left Tuscaloosa on Wednesday afternoon, we knew that we would be driving most of the night. We arrived in Houston at 5 a.m. (the next day) and headed to the American Red Cross Houston branch and began serving for the day at 8 a.m. Our students were energized and excited to get to be here and serve the community. We worked diligently until after 5 p.m.
Our incredible, hardworking team blew our community partner away with what we accomplished in only one day. We set a record by cleaning over 3,200 disaster relief cots. You may think, ‘what does cleaning cots do to aid in recovery and better the community?’ We learned that cots actually play a huge role in disaster relief efforts. A cot is someone’s home during one of the potentially worst times of life. This cot may be all that is left for them. They use this cot as a place to find rest and some comfort during tragedy. So, we were preparing and caring for a home for someone.
These cots will now be shipped to aid in the recovery process for people all over including Puerto Rico. It is pretty cool that these green army-looking cots truly can help redefine what we view as important. What a privilege for us to be a part of this story. It’s been amazing to see us come together and serve. It makes me proud to be a part of an incredible community through The University of Alabama, the Center for Service and Leadership, and the Beyond Bama program.
Last night in reflection, senior Jennifer Cinquemani shared her perspective with us.
“Service, to me, is the act of assisting others with what they need and learning from the community around you. It is important to remember while serving that you are there for those members and need to pursue what they need, not what you think they need. Beyond Bama fully lives this idea and has instilled this idea in me during the two trips I have taken with them.” – Jennifer Cinquemani, UA senior
What an incredible perspective. It was so obvious from this comment and so many more from reflection that service matters and transforms our viewpoints, passions, careers and, definitely, our lives.
So today, we are up and already working with our friends in the Red Cross. Definitely trying to break our record for “homes” cleaned and prepared today. So here we go. #Ttown4Htown
Go Beyond!
Dustin Smith, Beyond Bama team co-leader
Today was our last day of service in the Houston area. We began our day with the infamous Whataburger breakfast, then split into three separate groups to better serve a more broad area in Houston. One group returned to the American Red Cross, where we have been serving all week, to finish up cleaning, sorting and packaging cots to use in other areas with the Red Cross.
The second group ventured to the north Houston area to aid in the removal of church choir pews (using sledgehammers!) from Mount Houston Baptist Church.
The third and final group went to First United Methodist Church of Dickensville. At the church, the gym contained a wide variety of sports equipment, office supplies, kitchen equipment, and various other items that were moved because of flooding. Dickensville was one of the hardest hit areas in terms of flooding, and the church was no exception.
While at the church, we moved a lot of heavy kitchen equipment, sorted cleaning supplies, and packaged items in boxes to move to one side of the gym. There is a lot of work left to do in the gym, but we were able to clear out half of the gym so that the youth could use it to play games, sports, etc.
I have been on many Beyond Bama trips in the past, but this has been the biggest, in terms of number of participants. I am used to leading a trip of about 15 people, but being a co-leader on a trip of around 90 has been a wonderful new experience. It has been tough at times because of the sheer number of people, but we have made it work, been flexible, and called a few audibles that Nick Saban himself would be proud of.
The majority of our time spent in the Houston area has been working with the American Red Cross. We have cleaned, sorted and packaged thousands of cots for future use.
At first glance, working with cots is not glamorous nor flashy, but it is just as important as any other step in the process. These cots were once people’s “homes.”
They were something for families, including young children, to have to sleep on at night after being displaced from their homes because of horrific flooding and damage. It was important for us all to keep in mind that while it may have seemed like a menial, grunt-work task, it was a very important step in the process so that future children and families could have a place to sleep at night.
This has been another wonderful and humbling experience with the Center for Service and Leadership and Beyond Bama. We have learned a lot, met new people, and had wonderful experiences while serving a new community. I absolutely cannot wait for my next experience with Beyond Bama! Go Beyond! – Dustin Smith
