Students from buildOn and Girls Inc Learn How
Service Can Help Victims of Human Trafficking

buildOn’s students aren’t just engaging in volunteer projects where they serve soup to local homeless individuals or pick up trash. They’re learning about global social issues so they can see the bigger picture that they’re a part of. Often, we combine local outreach with global activism to help spread the word about obstacles faced by the developing nations where we build schools and beyond.

Statistics from our human trafficking handout, courtesy of CNN

A few weekends ago, students from both buildOn and Girls, Inc., an organization working to empower girls through academic enrichment, skill building, and counseling, came together to discuss human trafficking on a local and global level. We began the day with a look at what CSEC (commercially sexually exploited children) means. Through interactive activities we discussed who these children/teens are, how they get involved, and why they stay involved.

Students told stories of how they have seen this problem in their own communities/schools. We then watched an emotional documentary called Very Young Girls which follows 13 and 14 year old girls from New York as they tell their own stories of how they were seduced, abused, and sold on New York streets by pimps, while being treated as adult criminals by police. The film showed with harsh realism not only how trafficking affects people in NYC, but also in Oakland — one of the major sex trafficking hubs in the US.

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Weekend Youth Service Round-up for January 30th, 2011

Anti-Human Trafficking Chalk Messages in San Francisco

With the snow that fell two weeks ago melted, our students were back in action across the nation with service projects. Here’s an update from some of our regions:

San Francisco: Bay Area youth spent Saturday learning about human trafficking through a partnership with Girls Inc. They ended the day by raising awareness for the issue by writing chalk messages on sidewalks!

Chicago: Students rose early to distribute food from a pantry to those in need.

Detroit: At Detroit’s 2nd annual service party, students made friendship bracelets and cards of encouragement for homeless teens. Other students prepared for their school-building trip to Haiti in two weeks. Still others made catnip toys for cats at the Michigan Humane Society.

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Service Learning in the Bronx:
Student Honors MLK Day with Poem

Rahni Davis is a student at Banana Kelly in the Bronx, where buildOn is transforming classrooms with service learning programs. Davis tutors elementary-aged children with buildOn at The Point, and is very excited to be traveling this spring to help us construct a school in Malawi! Below, she performs a poem written on Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday to preserve Dr. King’s memory and remind us of the work that still needs to be done.

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Service Learning in the Bronx:
10th Grade Science Classes Empowered by
Teen Health Speaker

10th Graders at Banana Kelly Learn How to Ask the Right Questions

Earlier this year the Youth Engagement Zone at Banana Kelly had the great pleasure of bringing Estelle Raboni, Program Manager of Changing the Odds, and community health expert, to the 10th grade classes to speak and answer questions. As discussed previously in regards to our 10th grade health survey of the Bronx, this semester has been all about training the class to become independent learners and health advocates at Banana Kelly High, and with this speaker we hoped to personalize the findings made in the community health survey for our students. Asking questions, after all, is a necessary part of community and social growth, and we hoped to empower students to ask whatever questions they might have.

To prepare the students for Estelle’s visit we had them do a question formulation technique exercise which involved brainstorming as many questions as possible about the various health issues they are researching. They were then asked to choose the questions most appropriate to ask an expert. In addition, we went over the results of the surveys they administered in October. We wanted the students to dig deep within themselves and pull out genuine, thoughtful questions in response to their own environment and experience.

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Service Round-up: Martin Luther King Jr. Weekend

Fun Day in Oakland with Refugee Children

In San Francisco and Oakland, students dismantled recycled computers. Others worked at Land’s End Park, gardening and landscaping. Students also put on a “fun day” for refugee youth at a local shelter. Still others joined the 14th annual MLK celebration in the East Bay and contributed to an “I Have A Dream…” mural!

In Chicago, students made a mosaic portrait of Dr. King out of dominoes. They also made “origami cranes for peace”. Still others beautified a YMCA on Chicago’s west side – where MLK once lived – with the help of Mayor Rahm Emanuel!

In Detroit, students joined thousands in celebration at Union Station before volunteering with seniors in honor of Dr. King’s memory. Others participated in a “poverty simulation” to raise awareness for those living below the poverty line!

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Behind the Scenes in Nepal: Dalmar Nation

Dalmar prepares to fly to Nepal

buildOn’s newly released PSA can now be seen on Youtube with an introduction from TODAY show anchor Ann Curry! To tell the story of youth from the innercity joining forces with remote villagers worldwide, we took a camera crew on an incredible journey with us from one of the United States’ toughest neighborhoods in the Bronx all the way to Nepal. In that beautiful, mountainous country, high school students from NYC constructed buildOn’s 400th global school alongside local community members who had been waiting and hoping for a way to educate themselves and their children for their entire lives.

Dalmar Nation, from the Bronx, was on that trip, and is one of the stars of the new buildOn video. We talked to Dalmar to get an inside look at the experience of trekking halfway across the world with a production team to build a school!

How did you get involved in buildOn?

A friend of mine inspired me to go. She said that the program allowed you to help people in Brooklyn, and I thought it sounded cool. I like helping people. One of the first meetings I went to was a coastal cleanup–we went to Brighton Beach to clean. It was an awesome day of cleaning up, on the beach, with friends. And then I just started going to more projects and more projects, and it sounded like a fun program to join.

What were your first thoughts after being chosen to go on the school building trip to Nepal?

I didn’t know what to expect. I really didn’t. I’d never been out of the country before. And when we got there, there was no pavement on the road, there was mud everywhere. I was like, “wow”. And we were there to build a school. It was an exciting challenge.

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They buildOn: Luis Alonso’s Story Part II
“Nothing Short of Empowering”

Raised in the South Bronx and placed in foster care before he entered his inner-city high school, Luis was statistically more likely to end up in jail than graduate. But instead of succumbing to the challenges he faced, Luis took control of his own life by helping others through buildOn. We described the first part of his incredible high school experience here.

For a student like Luis who had once received many of his meals at food pantries and soup kitchens, the opportunity to serve others in the same situation was nothing short of empowering.

“I had prior experience with soup kitchens myself while living with my father,” Luis said, “but I never expected to be on the other side of the line – serving food to people who were once in my predicament. The sheer amount of people who came gave me insight into the real problem of poverty, and made me feel grateful. I will never forget my experience there.”

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buildOn Employee of the Month Crystal Collins Inspires Teens to Inspire Each Other

“Crystal is just awesome,” says buildOn’s Program Director in Philadelphia, Joanna Branch. “She has, on more than one occasion, come into my office excited about cheers she’s created about buildOn.” Branch’s smile widens. “She always performs them for me.”

Crystal Collins, a youth service program coordinator from Philly, is buildOn’s Employee of the Month. She was hired a year and a half ago as a part-time employee, and came on fully in the spring of 2011. Since then, she has made invaluable contributions to our growing Philly youth service programs, planning countless projects, inspiring countless students, and approaching countless tasks with infectious effervescence.

Branch, in fact, has trouble summing up Collins’ achievements concisely, but usually starts by describing the many service projects she’s orchestrated, including the “Abolish the R Word” challenge. “After spending a day volunteering at the Special Olympics, Collins’ students learned about how hurtful the ‘r’ word is, and were challenged to bring the message back to their schools. The student enthusiasm surrounding this initiative has been outstanding. Some made T-Shirts, some made videos, some made stickers…. Crystal’s vision was key to allowing the student voices to shine.”

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buildOn Students in NYC Tirelessly Commit Themselves
to Holiday Service

In today’s blog post, program coordinator Mat Pryfogle from NYC updates us on some exciting holiday service happening in his region!

Thanksgiving Service Chefs!

The New York Times Neediest Cases Fund is celebrating it’s 100th year and as part of their celebration they wanted to partner with NYC Service and engage high school youth in meaningful service. Together, they created a fantastic set of celebratory projects happening during the 2011 holiday season. Everything was set and all that was left was finding students to take part in the exciting service events. After having mixed results trying to recruit students from targeted high schools for service, someone thought of buildOn.

When originally approached, buildOn was asked to recruit students for three events, but within a couple of weeks that list had doubled. Around 50 buildOn students from schools in Manhattan & Brooklyn helped to put on six different events occurring in three different boroughs.

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buildOn Students United Across the Nation in Holiday Service

buildOn Students Plant Daffodils in the Bronx

Every single weekend, buildOn’s youth service students across the nation are out in their communities volunteering – working at soup kitchens and senior centers, tutoring disabled children, and completing dozens of other great activities. But this last weekend was particularly special. During the Saturday and Sunday before the US went on its 2011 winter vacation, we engaged hundreds of students in a wide variety of fun, empowering, and socially conscious service projects. Here’s what every corner of the buildOn nation was doing!

San Francisco: Teens in San Francisco volunteered at Golden Gate Park to help preserve their bison paddock. They even got to welcome a new baby bison to the park! Others volunteered with Compass Family Services, an organization helping out families in need.

Chicago: Some Chicago students were engaged at a local senior centers, cooking up an eggs and bacon breakfast before playing rounds of bingo! Others toured Chicago’s rehab and senior centers, singing carols to spread the holiday spirit. Continue reading…