Student groups from Georgia Southwestern State University spent their 2018 Spring Break volunteering and providing humanitarian aid.

Students with GSW’s Baptist Collegiate Ministry traveled to Atlanta for “Mission ATL.” The week-long project allowed volunteers to work with the children of the Georgia Baptist Children’s Home in Palmetto, Georgia and the homeless population in Atlanta.

At the children’s home, GSW students organized a day camp and sports clinics for children ages 7 to 17. They organized crafts with pregnant teenage residents helping them make things for their babies-to-be. Also, students hosted evening chapel services and paired up one-on-one with children to show them care, love and encouragement.

“We were able to give up a part of our spring break to give back and help others, but we received back more than we could ever give,” said sophomore Bri Pafford from Albany, GA. “Together, we learned that true service has nothing to do with ourselves. True service is showing the love of God to others by meeting them wherever they are.”

Students with the BCM also worked with 7 Bridges to Recovery, a non-profit that provides aid to the homeless and works to end homelessness in Atlanta. They prepared and distributed over 200 lunches on the streets of Atlanta. The students went out to overpasses and bridges in near-freezing temperatures, seeing the reality of homelessness.

“I have found that living to serve the Lord and other people before myself is a humbling and joyful experience,” said junior Emily Hooper from Perry, GA. “During this trip, the only thing I thought about was how I could share the Gospel and the love of Jesus Christ with people.”

According to BCM Campus Minister Brian Puckett, the students plan to take the lessons learned from Mission ATL and apply them to the needs in their own community in Americus.

GSW nursing students along with a couple faculty members traveled to Jamaica during the week-long break. Early in the semester, students take the Transcultural Health Care course to learn how historical, political, and religious factors impact health care beliefs of the caregiver and the client which readily prepared them for their study abroad service learning experience.

The students toured local hospitals, including the Cornwall Regional Public Hospital and Hospiten Private Hospital, and completed service learning projects at Melody House Home for Girls, the Jamaican Christian School for the Deaf, Garland Hall Orphanage, St. James Infirmary (a nursing home for men and women), and the Rastafari Indigenous Village.

“Students always come back home with a whole new outlook and appreciation for our country,” said Nursing Professor Joy Humphrey. “One student stated that ‘this trip should be made mandatory. It has made an impact on me that I will never forget, nor will I take my life in this country for granted.’”

“My favorite part of the trip was touring different hospitals in Jamaica and comparing them to hospitals in the U.S.,” said sophomore Anna Bryant from Pensacola, FL. “I have been on similar trips before, but this was my first academic study abroad trip. I chose to go to Jamaica to see how their culture and beliefs affect healthcare and how this is similar/different to our health care system in America.”