Nine Hamilton students and one Hamilton alumnus spent three-and-a-half weeks of Christmas break in Eastern Guatemala for an independent study service-learning experience with the Guatemalan Project (G.P), a community development organization in the poor rural community of El Triunfo. The trip was spearheaded by Meghan Stringer '07 who learned about the service opportunity through her brother and Hamilton alumnus Matt Stringer '03.
Students who participated in the trip were: Meghan Stringer '07, Laura Hartz '07, Heather Michael '07, Miranda Raimondi '08, Annie Harleman '08, Emily Goughary '09, Melissa Young '09, Jessie Stromwick '09 and Jane Barnes '09. The group was also accompanied by Matt Stringer '03 and Anne Stringer P '03, '07, '08 a nurse and drug/alcohol counselor.
The group worked with this NGO clearing plots of land for the new houses, filling in potholes and leveling the roads, rerouting the drainage ditches, and buying paint and supplies to paint the outside of the entire elementary school with all of the children in the village.
The independent study is a student-designed course under the Government Department supervised by Professor Judith Owens Manley of the Levitt Center. The independent study is based on a service-learning experience with the G.P where students volunteered in El Triunfo while they lived with host families. Upon return from Guatemala, students will work for five weeks with six additional professors in the sociology, economics, women's studies, environmental studies, and psychology department to study various social, economic, and environmental issues in Guatemala.
