Students hit beaches, and books, in St. Lucia

It’s not the standard springtime jaunt to the Caribbean for 50 Lynchburg College and Randolph College students, faculty and staff who traveled to St. Lucia on Wednesday.

The largest study-abroad program out of LC, the venture is also the school’s first to combine education with service learning projects. Students are working alongside St. Lucia residents in academic concentrations in education, nursing and international relations.

“We’re not going as tourists,” said Brad Bullock, a Randolph College sociology professor who studies the Caribbean and is one of four faculty and staff leading the group. “We’re consciously going as anti-tourists.”

As the 46 students prepared for their 17 days abroad, they learned about current events on the island and social and cultural aspects of the country, such as tourism and economics.

From their studies, the group suggested ways to use their skills, Bullock said.

Now, the students can put those ideas in action.

Before departing, LC rising sophomore Diana Vieyra said she was most excited about tutoring a group of third-grade boys who are behind in reading and math.

Vieyra was looking forward to making banana bread with the students.

“That incorporates our culture with their culture,” she said, referencing the country’s contribution to the banana industry.

LC rising senior Emily Koon is working with a group that will focus on health and developmental screenings, which they practiced at an early-learning center before leaving.

“If it goes even half as well as it went (in Lynchburg), it will be excellent,” she said. “I feel like we’ll bring back so much more than we took.”

Before returning to Lynchburg June 6, other planned projects include teaching residents skills such as counting money, reading, following directions, and telling time; cleaning up a beach; restoring a community center; building a playground for preschoolers with no safe place to play; and planting a garden.

As students explore the island and its culture, professors hope they get a glimpse into the legacy of colonialism and the realities of international development.

“We hope that they see something of the real Caribbean,” Bullock said, adding that it may be in “stark contrast” to how students pictured the island.

His wife, Sabita Manian, an associate professor of international relations at LC, will also lead the trip.

LC already had a relationship with St. Lucia through an educational partnership formed for special education teachers there in July 2003. Since then, the program has grown, and Manian said she sees room to grow it even more.

She hopes the trip will become an annual event.

“We can give something back,” she said. “Our students are going to do a tremendous job.”

For more info

- While abroad, Bullock is maintaining a blog with the students’ adventures. It can be accessed at
http://stluciaservice.randolphblogs.net