For two and a half weeks during winter break, approximately 50 students will be participating in international service trips sponsored by the Volunteer Service Corps.

Last year, VSC took winter service trips to Mexico City, Mexico, and Honduras. Because of the events of Sept. 11, the trip to Calcutta, India, was cancelled.

According to junior Melissa Henderson, VSC chairwoman in charge of service trips, 12 students and one faculty member will go on each trip. The volunteer service done on each trip varies. In Honduras, the members of Honduras Outreach Power and Exchange, will spend their time building and repairing infrastructure, including roads and buildings.

On the inaugural trip to Vietnam, participants will build a school in a village. Members of both the Casa de Caridad trip to Mexico City and the City of Joy trip to Calcutta will be working with Mission of Charities, Mother Teresa's organization. According to Henderson, students from both groups will be "working with the poor and with children and helping the sisters (there) with everyday work."

In India and Mexico, students will have the opportunity to work in one of three homes. Students will have the option to volunteer in an orphanage for children with disabilities, a home for the mentally handicapped or a hospice.

Senior Andy Rigsby is going to Calcutta. "I wanted to learn about service in a broader context," he said.

Junior Erin Casey is also going to India. She "hopes to serve and love the people in India."

In preparation for the trip, the groups have been fundraising and getting to know their fellow group members. Aside from individual and group fund raisers, each group attended a retreat and has weekly meetings to educate themselves about their destinations. Individuals going to Vietnam and India also had many vaccinations prior to their departure.

This is the inaugural trip to Vietnam. As of now the trip is unnamed, however senior Kathleen Stelling, the trip leader, said the group, "will decide on a unique name for the trip after (they) return." With the help of Mary Gerardy, assistant vice president for student life and faculty adviser for the trip, Stelling spearheaded the organization of the trip. Stelling said the goals of the trip are to "encourage peace and cultural understanding through service and (to have) a cultural exchange with Vietnamese village communities and University of Saigon students." During their time abroad the students will be doing service in several parts of the country including the Mekong Delta, Dalat, Nha Trang and Ho Chi Minh City.

Interested students went through a formal application prior to being accepted to one of the trips.

Aspiring participants have to submit an application to VSC early in the spring semester.

According to Rigsby, the application asked four short essay questions and about past volunteer experiences.