Service Without Borders

Students are increasingly interested in doing service work. Professor Tom Hammett, an advisor and founder of the Service Without Borders (SWB) group on campus lead a group of Virginia Tech students on a service trip to Nepal during the Winter Break. For many of the students it was their first trip to Asia, and to an underdeveloped country. Among the seven students in the group of travelers was Lauren Holt, Sophomore SBIO major. Nepal suffered from a major earthquake in 2015, and the group worked on repairing and rebuilding in the central mountain area near Jomsom. The weather was very cold so some of the work was inside! They finished a warming house designed to help keep elderly villagers warm during the cold winter months (see the photos). Students also mapped an irrigation ditch damaged by the earthquake. They worked on clearing brush from around an irrigation channel so that in the spring and summer the channel can be rebuilt. 

VT students from SWB form a chain to pass cement from where it is mixed on the ground to build sidewalk and steps on the exterior (see above). The key is to ensure easy access to the building, especially in the winter. 

SWB has a MOU for five years to help rebuild the village of Dhumba, in Jomsom. Dr. Hammett led a previous work trip to Nepal with 6 students during the summer of 2016. Another SWB group is planning a work trip this summer to help build a school in Tanzania. A third branch of SWB is organizing a local service project in the New River Valley in collaboration with organizations such as Habitat for Humanity. The hope is that others from SBIO and the College will join in SWB activities.