Another Side of America: Service and Active Citizenship in Appalachia
Lana Talampas | July 13, 2009
Lana Talampas, center, takes part in a group building exercise this summer at Virginia Tech University in Blacksburg.
Appalachia. As a native San Diegan, on the opposite side of the country, I was worried. I had no idea what to expect when I heard I was going to a conference at Virginia Tech University in Blacksburg on “Access and Isolation in Appalachia.” What I got were new friends, a renewed passion for community service, and the best leadership training I have ever received.
As an incoming co-coordinator of Alternative Breaks at UC San Diego, I attended the conference on running a successful alternative break program. Alternative Breaks are service trips that offer education on social justice issues while performing direct service in different communities. My previous volunteer experience included leading my own Alternative Breaks trip to the Dominican Republic—but in a way, Appalachia was equally far from what I knew. I was nervous and scared that I was chosen to be a site leader at this conference and that I would be expected to know about rural poverty and its effects on this region.
Never having any first-hand experience with the culture or the people, I had some stereotypical preconceived notions about this region. What I learned in my 10 days in Virginia was that Appalachia has a rich and beautiful culture full of hard-working, proud and oftentimes disadvantaged people. I learned about counties with almost 20 percent unemployment from their residents; saw the effects of the declining auto industry; and met a grandmother raising her daughter’s 6-month-old baby because of her daughter’s substance abuse and incarceration. The most disheartening fact is that with its rich history and its past contributions to U.S. industry, this is the America people forget about and ignore. We turn a blind eye to the poverty that exists in our very own country.
Talampas and another student lug painting supplies around at the Crossroads Homeless Shelter.
Breakaway, the national nonprofit organization committed to connecting Alternative Break programs throughout the nation, hosts three conferences called Alternative Break Citizenship Schools (ABCs) every summer. Our days were half volunteering, half workshops on topics like strategic planning, group building or developing alcohol and drug-free policies. This particular ABCs had a two-fold purpose: to train student leaders on the most effective ways to run their respective community service organizations and to expose and educate students on rural poverty in Appalachia. This experience helped me learn the importance of education and how becoming aware of the greater social issues can lead to effective change.
We were given the opportunity to work with various nonprofit organizations in the area, including the Crossroads Homeless Shelter, the Second Harvest Food Bank, the Hensel Eckman YMCA, Literacy Volunteers and SHARE (Self Help and Resource Exchange). We painted walls, sorted food, loaded pallets for distribution to counties all over Virginia, West Virginia and Tennessee. We put names and faces to the people who live in Appalachia. We saw how organizations in rural communities make it work with such limited resources and without government assistance. What I really took away from this was my interactions with the people. I learned what drives a successful nonprofit organization is the passion and dedication of the people involved and their commitment to serving their communities. I was excited to return to San Diego and get involved in our own nonprofit community and further educate myself on the issues affecting people living in my own city.
Talampas and another student sort supplies at the Second Harvest Food Bank.
This was the most powerful and life-changing experience I have ever had. As a leader of my own group, I felt truly honored to be leading such a diverse and passionate group of individuals. Seeing their own transformations and hearing their realizations about becoming educated citizens in their communities was really powerful. I felt so lucky to have had such an influential experience that was able to both challenge and support my ideas as a young adult. This really forced me to explore what I believe in and what I truly want, for myself and for my future. I also felt prepared to return home to UC San Diego to effectively communicate this philosophy to my fellow students and to help them gain leadership skills. Being surrounded by my peers, other college students committed to addressing social issues through direct service and education, and learning from working professionals in the nonprofit sector, really empowered me to believe in my own potential to effect change as an individual in the society at large.
At the same time, I really felt like a part of this movement that is happening all over the country. Nearly 65,000 students participated in Alternative Breaks last year and this number is growing. I felt honored to represent UCSD and have the opportunity to meet students from universities across the nation. The vision of Breakaway is a society of active citizens: people who value the community as a priority when making decisions. Whether it was while dancing at the Floyd Country Store, painting the kitchen of a homeless shelter or exchanging ideas about fundraising, it was truly inspirational to see this group of like-minded young people from all across the United States, growing as leaders, learning about the issues in Appalachia and ultimately discovering their own responsibilities as active citizens.
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