Not Your Typical Spring Break

When the words “spring break” come to mind, lounging in tropical paradise or curling up on the couch with a bowl of popcorn sounds appealing, but for students Laura Koch K ’11 and Liz Baugh K ’11, heading out to the Badlands of South Dakota, rebuilding communities on Pine Ridge Reservation for the Oglala Lakota people, is their idea of a perfect “alternative spring break.”

After volunteering at Pine Ridge through the non-profit organization, Re-Member, in July 2006, Koch was hooked: “I kinda fell in love with the place. I worked there last year just because it was something different to do.” Koch encouraged Baugh to join her and other volunteers this spring for a week in South Dakota.

Re-Member volunteers range from college students to church youth group members, in addition to middle-aged and older individuals who are eager to learn about Oglala Lakota culture. Together volunteers help fix homes and public spaces, and interact with the community. Additionally, they get a chance to hike in the Badlands, visit the sight of the Massacre at Wounded Knee, attend pow-wows and speeches, and receive guided tours of the Reservation and Oglala Lakota College.

The Re-Member staff makes the three days of work meaningful by giving volunteers the opportunity to interact with the Oglala Lakota people while building bunk beds, wheelchair ramps, or outhouses.

When Baugh built bunk beds for a family, she said, “It was like Christmas day for the children… they didn’t have to sleep on a few blankets on the floor or in the bathtub. Going there is like a third world country in the middle of the United States.”

Spending time on Pine Ridge opens the eyes of Americans to the reality of the devastating living situations of the Oglala Lakota people, showing them the truthfulness of the United States’ effect on their living conditions and overall economic situation.

“When you go there, you feel a great sense of white man’s guilt. You can see the devastation we caused,” said Koch.

The combination of historical insight, Oglala Lakota wisdom and interaction, and meaningful work made the experience enjoyable for the two sophomores. Nowadays, it is not uncommon to see college students passing up trips to resorts in Mexico and setting out to provide relief in areas of the world that could use a boost. Students from well-known schools such as Columbia University, Ohio University, and Washington University-St. Louis, are also choosing a new form of spring break at Pine Ridge.

In any alternative spring break setting, as Baugh said, “You have to be ready… you wake up early and you go out and do manual labor. You get the reward of not only seeing the families’ faces from when you help them… but you also get to meet people who want to help.”