Fellow Spotlight- Jeff Rolland

Buckeye Leadership Fellow ’18 Jeff Rolland had the exciting opportunity to serve as a trip leader for a Buckeye Serve trip to El Salvador over Fall Break this semester. Jeff is currently a senior majoring in Computer and Information Science.

During his sophomore year, Jeff went on a Buck-I-SERV trip to Antigua, Guatemala where he worked to build a home with Constru Casa, a non-profit organization that aims to improve the quality of life among Guatemalans living in extreme poverty through the provision of basic housing, support programs and community development projects related to health and education. When the El Salvador trip opened, Jeff knew it was time to make the journey again to Central America, but this time as a trip leader.

In El Salvador, Jeff worked with Hubbard & Cravens coffee to build an “African Drying Bed” for a farmer near La Palma, El Salvador in hopes that it would improve the quality of their coffee crop, allowing them to sell it for more money to Hubbard & Cravens, which will then be bought and enjoyed at Ohio State. The group of students and staff members started and finished the project in three days!

Jeff explains his favorite part of the trip by stating, “I was riding in the bed of a pick-up truck, cracking jokes in Spanish with Salvadorans, ascending the mountain to a coffee farm holding onto someone I just met that day (for dear life). We had no emails, no cell service, no status and titles – just a giddy enthusiasm to be alive, and grateful for the moment. Dripping with sweat and dirt, we all bonded together for a cause and gave it our all. If that’s not the definition of love, I don’t know what is.”

Thank you for sharing your experience Jeff! And thank you for supporting such a great cause!