Marianna Cuevas to Travel with Ten Other SVSU Students to Nicaragua

2013 Apr 30

A team of 11 Saginaw Valley State University students will devote a portion of their summer break to travel to Ometepe, Nicaragua, to assist with environmental restoration. The students will depart May 5, and return May 13, 2013.

Marianna Cuevas, a nursing major from Manchester, Mich., will be helping with the restoration of the environment in Nicaragua with other SVSU students.

The team will plant trees as part of a long-term flash-flood mitigation project. The students will be planting various trees, especially those that are indigenous to the region such as Eucalyptus, Laurel Indio, and Acacia. They will also have the opportunity to educate community residents on various conservation techniques to help protect and sustain the natural environment which is essential to the growth of Nicaragua as a whole.

The trip is part of SVSU's Alternative Breaks program. It is a drug free and alcohol free, student-led organization. Students are part of service groups that go on weeklong trips during winter and spring breaks. The program is a chapter of the national organization Break Away, a nonprofit program whose educational philosophy asks participants to examine causes for a social problem as well as their personal roles perpetuating it. Students then travel to an area with this problem and work to become part of the solution. The students later perform service near SVSU based upon lessons learned during their Alternative Break.

For more information about SVSU's Alternative Breaks program, contact the Student Life Center at 989-964-4170.