Day 1,840,583

Good job D.C., you got the metros booming again! Today we got to sleep in until 7 am and hop right on. This was not without flaw though, considering we ran out of bread...again but somehow we're all managing survival. We spent the morning back at Thurgood Marshall Academy teaching new students about human trafficking. We were very surprised with how much knowledge the students already had and how enthusiastic they were about the subject. One of the students was even getting angry about the injustices of the industry. It was empowering to see so much passion from kids even younger than us. This time we incorporated activities into the lesson plan to get the students up and moving which allowed them all, even the teacher, to actively participate. Ms. Lee was very grateful for us making us all feel warm and fuzzy as we left. We then traveled two metro stops down to the Covenant House, a organization that specializes in the young and displaced. We got there a little too early so we ate our sandwiches on the bus benches and had to wave each one away. We checked in and heard about all the cool things that Covenant provides like education, child care, job preparation, and so much more. The volunteer coordinator took us to the "Dove Store", a clothing boutique inside the facilities that is free for the people they serve. We found out that Gymboree, a popular and expensive child clothing brand, sends in clothes for donation on a weekly basis. The Covenant House receives so much of their clothing that they are able to donate some of the clothes to other local organizations. It is awesome to hear that organizations in the area help and support each other. Our job was to sort the clothing into boxes for Covenant House to keep and for them to donate. The clothes were so precious and the setup of the store was so nice. It made us feel like we were actually shopping around. The people that Covenant helps deserve to feel just like anybody else. Afterwards we got to eat some of the leftover food from lunch that day, which was really good.  On our way home we decided that it was too early to be cooped back up in our little hostel. We visited the National Archives and walked around the exhibits. The Declaration of Independence is even older than Theresa. All in all it was a great day and we met some awesome people.

Liz and Ruth

Rough Start

Have you ever been stranded where you are prior to even attempting to leave? Last night we found out that the metro station was going to be shut down all day today. All trains out of commission. This caused us to have to think of a new plan before having to wake up at 7:30am. To the busses! Traveling to our service project was slow. We traveled to Thurgood Marshal Academy, a charter school for high schoolers. There we taught two classes about human trafficking. What amazed us the most was the fact that these high schoolers knew so much about human trafficking. When we were in high school, we barely knew anything about sex and labor trafficking. It goes to show how great a job the teachers at the school are doing to inform the next generation about social issues such as human trafficking. We had a set lesson plan for the first class where we defined human trafficking, discussed the characteristics of pimps and victims, the red flags of sex trafficking, and risk factors of being trafficked. The second class was very different. The second class, while smaller, was made up of students who had been currently studying human trafficking and its impact on society. During the second class, we participated in a group discussion with the students. We asked them about their opinions on different topics such as the legalization of prostitution as a way to combat human trafficking and the impact the Internet has on human trafficking. In addition, we all discussed the difficulty of developing rehabilitative programs for survivors of human trafficking by creating our own program. We had many disagreements. 

After school let out, we spent the day walking around D.C. While this time was not devoted to service, it was a great opportunity to further bond and grow in our relationships. Such experiences allow us to be more in sync when completing tasks and performing service. This same bonding experience continued as we headed back to our housing to cook dinner, reflect, and prepare for tomorrow's class lesson plan. 

Until tomorrow, 

Michaela and Theresa

Today is Tuesday March 15th, 2016 . This is Amber and Darren! We were able to sleep in a little bit longer today, which was awesome! We left around 8:15 am to go to Sasha Bruce's were we helped to set up for the Community Day. The event provided the community with free clothing, HIV/AIDS Testing, free condoms, and free snacks. Community Day reached out to both adults and children in need. We actually had a woman come in before we began and said she will return when Community Day begins. Her excitement was transparent by her tone and showed that a lot of people were in need of clothes, school supplies, and other household items. Once we were done with setting up for the event, we treated ourselves to coffee and doughnuts... Yummy! We arrived back at the The Pilgrimage and we cooked chicken nuggets and mac and cheese. Around 2:30 pm we went to the Poverty Stimulation. A variety of groups from other schools participated in the Poverty Stimulation. Everyone was assigned roles, such as a police officer, single mother, child, teachers, and social workers. For the next two hours we were able to be in their shoes and experience some of the hardships they go through every day. For instance, most families neglected health issues in order to pay rent and utilities. Also this simulation showed us how difficult it was for parents to keep a healthy relationship with their children because most of them were working late hours and even at home they would take their stress out onto the kids. Overall, we found the events today to be very informative and the events gave us a greater understanding about the effects of poverty on individuals.  

Monday, March 14th, 2016

Today is Monday, March 14th, Pi day! Our names are Srijoy and Kira, and we are going to take you through our first full day on Alternative Break. We started the morning super early. Breakfast eaten, sandwiches made, and out the door by 7:45. First stop was at the organization Vital Voices. Emily Hooker, the program coordinator sat down with us, and talked about the organization and the typical work they do. It was awesome hearing that they reach out to female leaders around the world to promote human welfare. After leaving there, we were running a little early, so we went to a local coffee shop for some warm drinks and cookies. We visited the LaoGai Museum where we were given a guided tour. LaoGai basically stands for "Labor Reform". We met Harry Wu, the founder of the museum and a survivor of a 19-year-long imprisonment in a Chinese labor camp. He was very passionate about the cause, and spoke about the problems his family faced as well as where he currently sees the future of China. He was an insightful man with a rich personal background. We left the museum to eat lunch before we were on our way to Sasha Bruce. This is a group based in the south-eastern part of DC working to alleviate issues with homeless and troubled youth. These develop programs to help these children find their way back into the world with a skill-set to allow them to get their higher education, and eventually careers. Our work there involved sorting clothes and handing out fliers for a coming event centered around bringing the community together to give out clothes and provide testing opportunities those at risk for such. Some members of the group were given a tour of one of the houses that Sasha Bruce used to rehabilitate the troubled youth. In fact, they were able to meet some of the residents of the house. We finished up at Sasha Bruce, and eventually made our way back to the Pilgrimage. Tonight we will have pizza, and finish up our day with some group reflections. Hopefully tomorrow will be just as busy and fun as today!

Hi, this is Alicia and Alana. Today, we left the University of Maryland at approximately 10:15 and took the Metro to Dupont Circle. Our group walked about 15 minutes to The Pilgrimage. When we got there, all the door were locked, so two people from our group stayed with the luggage while the other members went to get breakfast/lunch. Eventually, the group came back together, and some of the members of the group went to the grocery store to get food for the week. When everyone came back, we watched a documentary on Netflix about human trafficking. After the documentary, we had about an hour discussion on the documentary and anything else that was related to the topic at hand. Two members of our group made dinner while the other members of the group had free time, and some of us played Apples to Apples until dinner was ready. Our group had dinner, and afterwards, some of our group went to get dessert at a nearby gelato place. The rest of the group stayed and just talked about different hot topics until the other members returned. Once the members returned from getting dessert, we had reflection time to talk about our day.