Here is the typical format of
each trip (schedules may vary somewhat from trip to trip):
Day 1 - Orientation. Everyone arrives where they
unpack, settle in, and eat. This day serves as a day to
hang out and meet the rest of the group,and have an orientation with
the numerous organizations we will be working with. The group stays at Iglesia de las San Romero, a liberation theology church in Washington Heights.
Days 2-8 - WORK
Morning: Manual Labor. Young people will participate
in various different types of Manual
labor in
solidarity with organizations doing work around environmental justice. Young people spend the morning
dong urban farming and garden work. Young people are split up into
groups of 5-15 each morning and work at various sites, switching each day as
different tasks are needed to be completed. We then have lunch and a break for around 2
hours.
Afternoon: Canvassing. During canvassing, the
young people will go door to door speaking to residents. Group members ask residents how they
are doing, trying to figure out what
their concerns with the community
are, and what they think needs to be done to
solve them. During this conversation, the young people have the contact
information for all of the organizations
we work with, so that if a resident brings up a
direct need, they can be
referred to the organization
that will be best to work with them
on that need. Often times
we may have an
innovative and dynamic speaker come to
converse with our group and speak about
the work they do and how it relates to a nation wide movement towards
peace and justice. After that we will
eat dinner and have debrief. Debrief Is our circle of reflection where we discuss our day, the work we are doing,
evaluate how affective we are being as a group and as individuals, we can also confront issues
within the group and construct a vison
for our projects.
Day 9 - Going Home: The last day is reserved
for packing up, cleaning up San Romero's space, and saying their goodbyes.
