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Many students looked forward to relaxing at home or maybe a big-city internship when the spring 2009 semester ended, but not 10 Kappa Alpha Order (KA) fraternity brothers who chose to spend a week doing volunteer work in Honduras.
Organized by senior Andrew Borgia, the group partnered with International Samaritan to spend a week in the middle of May cleaning up and helping with construction in San Pedro Suma, Honduras.
The group worked in the garbage dumps with garbage-dwellers, those who rely on the trash for food and money.
"You see videos, you read articles, you see pictures and everything else, but you can't really put complete and absolute trust in those until you see it," Borgia said. "There are actual people with their kids strapped to them digging through garbage."
Borgia said the dwellers usually make about $2 per day finding plastic bottles, among other things, in the dumps to turn in for money.
He said he hoped KA would be able to help in giving these people a better life.
The fraternity brothers worked for about six to eight hours a day in temperatures of 100 to 110 degrees, according to Borgia.
"We built a water canal around the school, constructed a sidewalk to the nursery and laid a foundation for a medical center," Borgia said. "We were right in the garbage dumps."
Sophomore John Anderson also participated.
"We built a wall to help keep rain from getting in the classroom," Anderson said. "We built a sidewalk to the nursery so there wouldn't be a dirt path that was causing kids to get sick. It was a bunch of little projects that built into one to help their education."
Anderson was one of two newly initiated members of KA that traveled to Honduras. He said it was a great way to bond with his fraternity brothers.
"I didn't know them that well, but by going with those guys I got to know them better than most of my pledge brothers," Anderson said.
Borgia said he also enjoyed spending time with his fraternity.
"Frats stress brotherhood and everything else but to be with these guys for a week straight was something else," Borgia said. "It shed light on the true meaning of a fraternity and brotherhood.
Borgia was glad that KA was able to get involved and know that they made a difference.
"It gives you a chance to say what you're grateful for," Borgia said.
Anderson agreed.
"We have so much here we take for granted," Anderson said.
Both Anderson and Borgia said they hope to continue this volunteer work next summer and double the amount of participants.
