Fifteen University of Massachusetts students forwent the usual vacation spots and spent their spring break on a community service trip in Nicaragua.

The trip was funded by donations from University of Massachusetts Hillel and an organization called American Jewish World Service (AJWS), which set up a community service project for the students attending.

While in Nicaragua, the students built a road and a bridge that will lead to a school being built to educate adults who did not have the chance to receive a general education. The school is the 17th built in Nicaragua as part of the projects of AJWS.

Students also attended educational sessions intended to connect the work to Jewish values.

‘ ‘The educational sessions also served as a debriefing to all the work we were doing,’ said Ariela Lovett, a sophomore from Mount Holyoke College, who went on the trip.

Julie Pulda, a UMass student, found out about this program through UMass’ Hillel while concurrently doing volunteer work in South Africa.

‘We worked alongside local students and members of the community every day. When we were not working, we spent time visiting local communities and schools or just hanging out with community members,’ said Pulda. ‘We also had daily education sessions about poverty in Third World countries.’ We tried to understand these serious issues by both working in the community and discussing the topics.’

Though spring break opportunities have been offered through UMass’s Hillel in past years, this was the first year that students had the opportunity to go to Nicaragua. The group consisted of undergraduates, graduate students and one group leader.

‘Working the whole week and spending all day Saturday at the school, the students stayed about five minutes from the worksite in an open, concrete structure. The girls stayed in one room and the boys stayed in another. They slept on mattresses on the floor and did not have access to a bathroom. Moreover, there were animals including cows, horses, chickens and dogs everywhere,’ said Pulda.

Funding for alternative spring breaks such as the community service trip to Nicaragua is raised through events sponsored by UMass Hillel. One such event is ‘Ride to Provide,’ a bike ride charity event, which takes place in September.

‘ ‘There were many aspects to the trip from peers forming friendships to learning about the culture of Nicaragua. The people who went on the trip built a community amongst themselves by sharing a common experience. Furthermore, it is a great opportunity because one is able to learn by experience not by a textbook,’ said Ariel Weissburg, member of Hillel and group leader of the trip.

AJWS is an international development organization dedicated to helping poverty, hunger and disease among people of the developing world. According to its website, ‘AJWS funds hundreds of grassroots organizations working to promote health, education, economic development, disaster relief, and social and political change in the developing world.’

Dinah Gorelik can be reached at dgorelik@student.umass.edu.