Creating a Community

Branch Out held a Homecoming reception this weekend to welcome back alumni who participated in alternative breaks while they were here.  It was quite a crowd, with people buzzing in from all over the world.  Some of those I talked to had come from places as far away as Ireland, San Diego and Tanzania recently.

One student director alumna is working with migrant workers in North Carolina, developing education sessions on health and safety practices to share with them to mitigate the high risks they face in their labors.  Another alumnus is studying for his master’s in higher education, and continues to be involved in alternative breaks – no longer as a site leader, but as an adviser. One former site leader talked about her work, which isn’t quite in the field she wants to be in, but she is busy finding ways to connect her experience in environmental sustainability to what she does. Another alumnus, who is now a community partner for one of our national trips, told me about his meeting earlier that day with the site leaders he’ll be working with this March. And one alumna wasn’t part of our program but stopped by to tell us about her recent time in East Africa, and to see about ways that she could support our two international alternative breaks that go to countries where Swahili is spoken.

The vision of Branch Out alternative breaks is to create a community of active and educational individuals dedicated to the pursuit of social justice.  Throughout the year, I see this happening in different ways.  I see it when our site leaders gather and work together to develop trips that will support community-driven work for social change.  I see it when participants on a trip laugh together over simple meals eaten in community center basements, and later struggle together in reflection about how to tutor better tomorrow.  And last night, I saw how this community continues even when it is dispersed across the world, as breakers who continue to live out their unique commitments to social justice met up with current program leaders and participants who welcomed them back with gracious hospitality, eager to hear their stories and glimpse into their futures as active citizens.