June 27, 2005 SELINSGROVE, (Pa.) – Susquehanna University students are spending portions of their summer vacation helping those in need. Supported in part by a $50,000 grant from Thrivent Financial for Lutherans, three service-learning trips are exposing students to other cultures, as well as social problems here in the United States. The first trip, dubbed The PLUS (Philippines – Learning, Understanding, Service) Project, involved five students. Supervised by Jeffrey Mann, assistant professor of religion, and his wife, Neneth, the students traveled to the Philippines in May for two weeks of cultural immersion and volunteer service. The program began in the spring semester with an academic course on Philippine history, culture, religion, language and cuisine. “It is one thing to read about life in the Philippines but quite another to understand it when one jumps into the culture with both feet,” Mann said. The students did just that, building a bathroom for the laborers of a sugarcane plantation while staying with Filipino host families. The students worked hand-in-hand with Filipinos digging an eight-foot deep hole, laying cement and weaving coconut leaves for roofing under the squelching island sun. They also delivered approximately 400 pounds of clothing and a host of personal care items, much of it donated by the congregation of Zion Lutheran Church in Sunbury, Pa. They also distributed roughly 3,500 pounds of rice to Filipino families. In addition to their workloads, students found time to attend lectures, visit museums and tour the historic island fortress of Corregidor. “The students, without exception, worked hard and gave of themselves in a way that made me proud. They exemplify what is best in Susquehanna students,” Mann said. Like The PLUS Project, the second service trip, being offered this summer as a pilot program, is modeled after the highly successful SU CASA (Central America Service Adventure), in which students, faculty and staff travel to Nicaragua and Costa Rica over winter break to do volunteer work and learn about the region. SU CASA – Belize is currently underway. Susquehanna students, supervised by university chaplain Mark Radecke, departed for Belize on June 20. During their stay in the small Central American coastal country, bordering Guatemala and Mexico, the students are working in one of two teams – a medical team and a construction/education team. The medical team is working at clinics in remote and poorly served areas of the country, and, in the process, learning about tropical medicine. The construction/education team is working with local residents through the Armenia Development Center on various projects including the completion of a community laundry facility and repair of desks and equipment at a school. While in Belize, the group will also learn about Mayan culture and Mayan Christianity. Their educational field trips will include a visit to Mayan ruins in Xunantunich. The third service trip this summer will involve accepted students who will be enrolled at Susquehanna University for the first time this fall. Slated for July 11 through July 17, the First-Year Student Summer Service Plunge will include up to 24 accepted students and six upperclass mentors, supervised by Radecke and Colleen Zoller, assistant professor of philosophy. “Some students are attracted to SU because of their interest in service. This is an opportunity to involve them in service projects and service-learning as a pedagogy right out of the gate,” Radecke said. In addition, he said, it will “introduce them to reflection on how service relates to their faith, life, values and education, and link them up with classmates, upperclass students, faculty and staff committed to service.” During the Summer Service Plunge, students will spend two days doing service work in the Susquehanna Valley and three days in Washington, D.C., learning about homelessness and working with homeless individuals. While in the nation’s capitol, the students will also visit some of the city’s most popular tourist sites. Contact: Victoria Kidd 570-372-4119 #vk#3850#