Perhaps the most cherished hiatus from classes by students across the nation, Spring Break has come at last. And while many students will race to the beaches, some have traded their vacations in for opportunities to help others. Programs such as Alternative Spring Break combine the desire to travel with the desire to perform community service aiding often impoverished countries. Providing assistance to these foreign countries is a rewarding experience and students should be aware of the cultural and political environments of these areas.

Countries frequented by these programs and other mission trips are often underdeveloped and can be unstable as a result. Volunteers should recognize that although they are there to provide assistance, they might not be as warmly received as imagined. Students must familiarize themselves with the risks that are involved with visiting unfamiliar places. American tourists often are targeted for pickpocketing — and sometimes even worse. 

Patricia Lampkin, vice president and chief student affairs officer, wrote an e-mail to the student body advising against travel to places like Haiti as conditions remain dire. “While the desire of volunteers to help is well-intentioned and commendable, their presence right now only adds to the burden of an already difficult situation,” Lampkin said in the e-mail. Though destinations such as Haiti and Chile likely are not on most students’ iterneraries, volunteers should be considerate of the line between helping and burdening an already overwhelmed system.

The motives behind such travels are laudable; students are using vacation time to aid foreign communities. But whether students choose to go to the beaches of Cancun or the impoverished regions in Belize, they must be aware they are not in Kansas anymore.