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Garden City, N.Y. -- They certainly spend a lot of time serving as members of the Adelphi University volleyball team, but juniors
Amanda Borges and
Sierra Crook spent their winter break doing a different kind of serving -- serving others. The pair traveled to locations in Central America for two weeks to learn more about the cultures of the region, while also working alongside others to give back to the communities that hosted them.
Borges (pictured, with a group of Guatemalan children) was a member of a group of 20 Adelphi students who went on one of the University's Service Learning trips to Guatemala during the week of January 9th-16th.The group arrived in the town of Panajachel, Guatemala to learn about the culture, history, socio-economic conditions and health care systems of the area.
"We also assisted in stove installation projects for 12 families, worked with pre-schoolers,and helped feed the elderly woman of San Jorge -- a town known for events that happened during their civil war that occurred from 1963-1996," said Borges.
Crook, an environmental studies major, traveled to Managua, Nicaragua for two weeks and worked on an organic farm while taking Spanish lessons from the locals in the area.
"The farm is used to provide produce and medicinal plants to the surrounding community, especially to the poorer families who cannot afford healthy food and medicine," said Crook. "It also serves as a natural reserve in the area, for the land it is on would have been otherwise developed by a company from outside of the country for outsourced business purposes."
The house where Crook stayed with her host family in Nicaragua.Crook's work on the farm included planting trees that can be used for textile making, watering the multiple crops of produce, picking produce like oranges and bananas and planting a new medicinal garden.
"Iwas also able to stay with a homestay family during this time -- thus really being immersed in the language and culture -- while also building fantastic relationships with my host family and people in the community," said Crook. "I was even able to teach the two four-year-old little boys in my homestay and some other neighborhood kids how to play volleyball while I was there. It was an experience I will not soon forget."
About Adelphi University AthleticsAdelphi University joined the Northeast-10 Conference in the fall of 2009 and in the past six seasons has collected 16 regular season conference titles, 21 tournament championships, 27 individual crowns and captured the Northeast-10 President's Cup twice (2013 and 2014), while winning five NCAA Division II National Championships.
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