Mission: Possible

The 2009-2010 trip destination was not firmly decided until a few weeks ago when we finally received a green light to start planning our trip to Honduras!

The events in Honduras over the summer, specifically the late June coup d’état that ousted President Manuel Zelaya from office, caused serious doubt that the group would be able to return safely to the community in Lapaera, Lempira. However, a new President was elected and the travel advisory preventing our safe travel into the San Pedro Sula airport has been lifted.

While we investigated other possible locations (Peru, the Dominican Republic, and Belize), I can honestly say that the entire Mission Possible group is beyond ecstatic that we are returning to Honduras! We have built such a strong bond with the Lapaera community and our host family is looking forward to our arrival in March.

Here is what the group has been up to for the past several months:

Fundraising is our primary goal for the fall and early spring semesters. Because our group is student-run and student-funded, we are responsible for financing the cost of our trip (which is quite expensive!), including airfare, housing, meals, and our project costs. The more money we raise through our activities and charitable donations from friends, students, faculty, and the Spokane community, the less each student has to pay out-of-pocket.

In August, we set up a group table at the Gonzaga School of Law’s organization fair where all the law school’s groups provide information to any and all students wishing to join the school’s clubs. This was a great opportunity to meet the incoming first-year students, as well as any upper-level classmen who expressed genuine interest in our mission. Mission Possible does not finalize its membership roster until the middle of October.

Part of the reason that we wait so long to cement our group membership is so that students who are interested in joining have the opportunity to really see what the fundraising process is all about; believe me, it’s very time consuming to say the least. The maximum number of people that the group allows to travel each year is 15.

Why 15? Well, it has a lot to do with fundraising. With the price of travel exceeding $1,000 per person, the trip would become more and more expensive out-of-pocket, and as law students, we don’t have very much money to spare.

Also, it’s an issue of travel safety. Because we typically travel to third-world countries, any more than 15 persons in the group would be almost unmanageable. This year’s group had 10 returning members: six 3Ls (third-year students) and four 2Ls (second-year students).

We had a very high number of students submit applications this year and it was incredibly difficult to select five new members from such an over-qualified pool. Regrettably, we cannot take everyone who wishes to join. We are very pleased with our new members, though!

On the first weekend in October, Mission Possible hosted its First Annual Kickball Tournament. This event was a great fundraiser for our group and we had a fantastic turnout from the law school. Students who wished to participate were asked to form groups of 5-8 and each participant just paid an entry fee of $5. We had approximately ten teams participate in the round robin tournament.

The feedback from the event was incredible and most of the participants had a great time.

On November 13, we organized and hosted a CLE (Continuing Legal Education) at the law school. The topic was Family Law and it was a complete success! The presenters spoke on fascinating issues involving ethical concerns in the representation of children, the nuances of the guardian ad litem system, how abusers use family law litigation as a mechanism, as well as panel that was open to discuss any and all questions asked of them.

We could not have put on such a successful event without our Vice President, Megan Eixenberger, and all her hard work and dedication in lining up the speakers and organizing the entire event.

Also, as with all of our group’s activities, our faculty advisor, Professor Mary Pat Treuthart, played a crucial role in the event’s success. We could not do most of the things we do without her support and guidance. In addition, we would like to also thank Professor Gail Hammer, Professor Helen Donigan, Attorney Emily Cordo, and Attorney Andrea Poplawski for dedicating their time and expertise to our CLE. Without them, the CLE would not have been possible.

Well, that’s pretty much what we’ve been up to lately. The spring semester will be almost entirely fundraiser-driven! While we’ve had good luck fundraising thus far, we still have a long way to go!