While other students were traveling to exotic places like Panama and the Bahamas, a few decided to spend their spring breaks helping those in need.
Professors and students traveled around the world, from South Carolina to Costa Rica, to give their time and energy to people who needed it.
One of these service trips included the nursing department. Marjorie Vogt, an associate professor in the nursing department took a crew to Honduras, on an exploratory trip, to assist medical teams at a local hospital.
Their trip was sponsored by Total Health, Inc., an outreach program through the Great Commission Church of La Ceiba, Honduras.
"We had the opportunity to work with the local physician and medical staff to provide care at the clinic, do entrance physical examinations on the local school children and provide health care to over 150 people in a remote village," said Vogt.
The clinic they helped was located outside of La Ceiba, the third largest town in Honduras.The group stayed with members of the local church, and helped people who were subject to poor conditions and slim medical services.
"Patients were in very close quarters, and the hospital did not routinely provide sheets, gowns, or food," said Vogt. "Although prescriptions were written for the patients, the medications were not available 70% of the time."
Though this trip to Honduras was exploratory, the nursing department is no stranger to participating in service opportunities.
The department has a long history of service with a Mexican medical clinic.
"Nursing students (and some Spanish students) found these service-learning projects to be extremely satisfying and a positive learning experience," said Vogt.
The medical teams in Mexico were sponsored by OhioHealth and the West Ohio Conference of the United Methodist Church.
These teams include members of the health care field including physicians, pharmacists and physical therapists.
In the future, Vogt stated that Total Health, Inc. is in the process of opening up a medical clinic in Nicaragua, where Otterbein could collaborate.
Both the clinic in Honduras and the potential one in Nicaragua will be mirrored towards the clinic the department worked with in Mexico.
Another department to send students away for spring break was the science department.
Associate professor of life and Earth sciences, Jeffrey Lehman, took 11 students to Costa Rica to study tropical ecology and agriculture. They also had the opportunity to travel through many different environments including the dry, cloud and rain forests.
Though many students were sent across the sea to study and provide service, some contributed closer to home.
Under the organization of chaplain, Monty Bradley, the Habitat for Humanity chapter went to Bluffton, S.C., to take part in the Habitat for Humanity Collegiate Challenge.
"Our crew was a part of HFH's Collegiate Challenge alternative spring break program, which this year alone sent 12,000 students to work in 210 locations throughout the country," said Bradley.
The crew, which consisted of 14 students, went to work building houses for local families.
"Their 'mission' or purpose was to help make available affordable housing, and to build homes with the folk of the Bluffton Habitat affiliate," said Bradley.
The crew got a chance to meet and work with many families while on their week-long trip.
"They were very appreciative of the work we did, and I feel meeting the families made the biggest difference. I could see these were people who needed the help and were very willing to work for it: they weren't just expecting the get a house for nothing," said senior organizational communication major Megan Witt.
In the future, Witt hopes that others will take part in the service trips Otterbein offers.
"I love Habitat for Humanity, because they are not an organization that gives hand outs: They give hand ups," she said. "We are helping others help themselves." t&c;
