While many spend their first spring break of college lounging on a beach dozens of miles away from home with a martini in hand, I decided to dedicate mine to exploring a foreign country teetering at the edge of the equator, hoping to immerse myself in a culture I have never experienced before. At the crack of dawn on my first day of break, myself along with two dozen college undergrads flew to El Paraíso, a region of Honduras where communities value camaraderie and warm welcomes and weren’t afraid to share them with a group of foreigners; for a week, I discovered a new home away from home, one that I miss today even if it’s been days since I’ve left.

As a group of business majors, we came to Honduras to help El Espinito, the community we were assigned to, by empowering them with knowledge and different perspectives about microfinance and microenterprise, as well as aiding community members with any issues encountered within their local economy. Starting out, the question of how much we could actually help the community lingered in my mind. Alternative spring break service trips tend to have the negative stereotype along the lines of that students who go on these trips come in with saviorist mindsets. In other words, oftentimes students may think that they’re helping to “fix” a community entirely, or contributing more than they really are, two notions which completely contradict the reason for volunteering abroad.

During my time, I strived to make an impact on the community in whatever guidance it needed. However, I also hoped to learn as much as I can from community members as well. Throughout my five days in El Espinito, our team got to know community members, building bonds and relationships through food, dancing and laughter that made both groups of people with vastly different characteristics feel comfortable with each other and feel like a family, breaking down our disparities and learning from each other despite language and cultural barriers.

I do believe that unfortunately, voluntourism can be prevalent if students attend trips like the one I did with little care for long-term growth or, holistic sustainability of communities. The organization I attended the trip with, however, made certain that every volunteer was aware of the holistic model it followed to help El Espinito as much as possible, which calmed my nerves by establishing that the work we were doing was actually valuable. From creating business plans to conducting market and community research, the work we performed was greatly appreciated by the community members and will be useful in any endeavors they decide to pursue.

In the end, one of the main parts of the trip that will be ingrained in my mind is that in any effort to volunteer abroad, it is important to have compassion, understanding, and the goal to genuinely impact the community you’re working with in a sustainable way, eradicating saviorist notions and encouraging the mutual exchange of knowledge. From teaching schoolchildren the importance of saving for the future or presenting possible local business ventures, the moments I spent in Honduras are ones that I will never forget.