University of Maine Spring Break Projects List

Dozens of University of Maine students will spend spring break March 4–15 in far-away places doing volunteer work in schools, hospitals, animal shelters, orphanages, nature preserves, farms and building housing and a Honduran village’s first sewage system.

Here is a partial list of places and projects.

  • Honduras — Five student members of the UMaine chapter of Engineers Without Borders will return to Dulce Vivir on the outskirts of Dulce Nombre in Honduras to complete work started in 2008 designing and building a sewage collection system for a village of 120 people struggling with water contamination from overflowing latrines during the rainy season.
  • Nicaragua — REACH (Respect Education Action Community Hope) at UMaine is sending 12 students to Jinotega, Nicaragua March 2–15 under the auspicious of the Circulo de Amigas organization to help with library repairs and encouraging children to read. They’ll also help out in a home for disabled children and a maternity home.
  • Costa Rica — REACH (Respect Education Action Community Hope) at UMaine is sending 12 students to Mastatal, Costa Rica March 3–16 to assist local farmers with aquaponics and organic farming.
  • Belize — Thirteen students in the UMaine School of Nursing are partnering with International Service Learning to offer medical assistance in rural clinics in San Ignacio, Cayo District of Belize. They’ll work with physicians providing health care to underprivileged families and children.

The UMaine Bodwell Center for Service and Volunteerism and UMaine Alternative Break are organizing dozens of students planning spring break trips in the United States. Projects include:

  • Helping children victimized by domestic abuse in Virginia
  • Improving housing conditions for low-income families in the coal camp communities of West Virginia
  • Assisting at a rescue camp for neglected and abused animals in Pennsylvania
  • Providing respite in Florida for vacationing families of children with terminal illnesses
  • Helping with disaster relief and rebuilding of homes in New Orleans
  • And maintenance and trail restoration in the Grand Canyon in Arizona and in the Moody Forest Natural Area in Georgia.

Contact: George Manlove, 207.581.3756