Volunteers and children pose for a photo in front of one of the three classroom locations of Honduras Child Alliance.

by Brendan Sample

As the summer begins for college students across the country, most will focus on summer jobs and generally enjoying their time away from classes. For Lila Sternberg-Sher and Yamit Netter-Sweet, graduates of Germantown Friends School and Penn Charter, respectively, they will be kicking off their summer by travelling to Honduras to help a community in need.

Both freshmen at Middlebury College, Sternberg-Sher and Netter-Sweet will be embarking on their second trip to Honduras at the end of the month. They spent four months out of what would have been their first semester teaching English, Spanish and computer skills to children, along with teaching English to adults. Middlebury’s “Febmester” program allows students to begin their freshman year in February while they embark on an internship, job or, in Sternberg-Sher and Netter-Sweet’s case, volunteer trip.

Both had done volunteer work before, with Sternberg-Sher spending several weeks out of one previous summer working with Habitat for Humanity, but they both also wanted to do something for a longer period of time where they could really give back. There were other trips that offered similar experiences, but once they found the one to Honduras, the decision was easy.

“We both wanted to work with kids in Central or Latin America,” Sternberg-Sher said. “This had everything that we wanted: a safe town where people spoke Spanish, it’s on the coast, it’s close to but not in a city, and the organization had really good roots.”

Yamit Netter-Sweet and with student Elias.

The initial trip was organized through the Honduras Child Alliance, a volunteer organization dedicated to helping improve the lives of poor children in El Porvenir, Honduras. One of the directors of the organization is Eve Horowitz, who is a Mt. Airy resident, which gave Sternberg-Sher and Netter-Sweet a connection to organize their first trip. Becoming familiar with the HCA also helped in forming their upcoming visit, which will last 10-12 days, as the group normally does not allow volunteers to stay for less than six weeks at a time.

Whereas the first trip was focused on teaching, this condensed visit will focus on building a bathroom and restoring a playground. In addition to bringing three other students with them, Sternberg-Sher and Netter-Sweet will also be working alongside members of the El Porvenir community. Working alongside residents of the community compared to teaching them will be just one significant way in which this trip promises to be different from the first.

“The group that we’re bringing hasn’t been there before, so they’ll be able to see a different culture, reflect on that as a group and see what they’ve learned,” Sternberg-Sher said.

“Even though we’re not specifically going back to be with the children, we’re still very much looking forward to seeing them again,” explained Netter-Sweet, who credited their relationships with the kids to be the biggest takeaway from the first trip. “It’ll be great to just hang out and see how they’ve improved their English since we were last there.”

Lila Sternberg-Sher student Saira.

Beyond the specifics of the initial trip, one way in which the experience stood out is that it took place while most other students were in the first semester of their freshman year, as opposed to happening when the school was on break. While the “Febmester” students will have an extra semester to fulfill their requirements for graduation, missing the first semester on campus does make for a unique situation upon officially beginning in February.

“It was definitely hard because we were coming in and it felt like all of the freshmen had already formed their groups,” Sternberg-Sher said. “Generally, the ‘Feb’ kids are all friends and also came in at this weird time. Now that we’ve been here for a full semester, things are a lot more even.”

As they make the final preparations for their next trip, Sternberg-Sher and Netter-Sweet are already looking forward to the next volunteer opportunity. While they will certainly want to get through their summer trip first, Middlebury’s programs beyond the “Febmester” should ensure that there will be plenty of chances for further service trips like these.

“There’s a program called the Middlebury Alternative Break, which offers alternative service trips all over the world during a two-week break in February,” Netter-Sweet said. “When we applied for money for this trip, we were recommended to apply for that, and we definitely want to continue trips like this in the future.”

For more information and to donate, visit middstart.middlebury.edu/building-banos-not-borders. In addition to contributing to the construction materials, the funds will also go toward travel, room and board, meals and transportation, which will help support local businesses in Honduras. The deadline is June 15.