Malaria pills: check. Typhoid pills: check. Underwear and socks: check. Cell phones and iPods: tossed aside to leave room for squeezing in the bare necessities. Preparing for seven days in Nicaragua with only a small bag for luggage leaves a packing list with only must-haves. Over break, Shira Moskowitz '13 traveled to Nicaragua as part of a trip with the American Jewish World Service, a nonprofit organization dedicated to alleviating poverty, hunger and disease among the people of the developing world, according to its mission statement.

After seeking a winter break trip through Brandeis and being disappointed by the limited options, Moskowitz applied to trips through various other universities, including New York University, Columbia University, Barnard College and Washington University.

Initially rejected by every school as an outside student, Moskowitz was surprised by a last-minute offer from a Cornell University AJWS trip.

"The night before the deadline, I received a phone call that I was accepted and I had to give them an answer on the spot. I had no idea about the cost of trip and it sounded out of my comfort zone, but I jumped right in," Moskowitz says.

Knowing little about the details of the trip, Moskowitz canceled her original plans to spend her vacation in the tourist-based Wizarding World of Harry Potter theme park in Orlando, Fla., opting instead for malaria and typhoid pills in preparation for her new trip. "I realized I could go to Harry Potter World whenever I feel like it. Who goes to Nicaragua? Who builds ovens?" she says.

Eight Cornell students were immersed in preparation for the upcoming trip, and Moskowitz called in to listen to hours of orientation from 322 miles away.

"I kind of started questioning when people asked about running water and pills. The week before [the trip] I realized I didn't really know what was going on [or] where Nicaragua is on the map. So I started doing research," she says.

Carrying the bare necessities, the group of 12 Americans arrived in Managua, Nicaragua on Jan. 9. "We get off, there are these two guys playing ukuleles, and I'm thinking, 'Welcome to Nicaragua.' I'm wondering if I was supposed to know Spanish," Moskowitz recalls.

The week was spent building cement ovens for homes in Nicaragua; a simple manufactured luxury in America which turned into an intense physical challenge due to a lack of proper equipment and processing capabilities.

"They don't have electricity there, so we built foundations and filled them with the dirt. All the work was tedious because they have no electrical equipment. If you have a pile of dirt, there's no tractor. You fill up a bucket, pick it up and carry it three feet, and that takes a whole day," Moskowitz says.

"AJWS's mission is to go and find the root of the situation. ... Take it to that starting point. ... You would think if they don't have bread, we should give them money, but by creating ovens, they can feed their families and they can start a bread industry for the community," Moskowitz says.

With little running water, mattresses thin enough to feel the floor below and the simplest of accommodations, the group learned to rough it during their short time away.

"Take a squeeze water bottle and squeeze it, [and] that was what the shower was like. They would run out of water all the time, so we didn't all get to shower. ... It was pretty much rice and beans every meal. Vegetables, some more beans, beans with sauce, plain beans, beans with rice and bean soup," Moskowitz jokes.

On the first trip to the work site, the group encountered their first challenge when their car got stuck in a ditch and wouldn't move. Moskowitz and the group spent nearly two hours shoveling dirt, surrounded by animals roaming the road with a carefree ease.

"[The] oxen and pigs are fine, but our car [couldn't] get over. We walked through rocks and streams to get to the workplace."

Though the trip lacked the usual luxury of a winter vacation in a warm climate, the group embraced the experience.

"On one type of service mission you can stay at nice hotels, order Pizza Hut, watch American Idol and go to your community and shovel some dirt. That's an amazing thing, but you're not putting yourself in the culture. You're making a separation," Moskowitz says.

On Friday night during the trip, the group spent time teaching the Nicaraguans American songs and dances and learning the Nicaraguans' in return.

"They put on music for classic Nicaraguan dances and performed for us. Everyone started dancing, [and] we made a conga line. ... It was an eye-opening experience that everyone has a culture and no one has a culture more rich than another. ... We saw them in the market on Saturday, and we were all screaming our songs," she says.

Despite the run-down conditions of homes and hospitals they visited, Moskowitz feels that pity is no solution. "We have all these stereotypes that these people can't be happy. ... Once you form relationships and see what life is like, you feel stupid that you have this concept of us and them, that we are so different than them," Moskowitz explains.

"I'm happy with my culture, they're happy with theirs. I know I'm American and they're Nicaraguan, but it doesn't really matter," she says.

While Moskowitz has returned to running water and heating on campus, she is focused on continuing the work of her trip in a different capacity.

Feeling a need for Brandeis to run similar trips, she hopes to work with AJWS, Brandeis and other organizations to provide options for such experiences during future breaks.

"We have social justice and a large community; there's no reason if we work hard we can't make it happen," Moskowitz says. "If any university can rock global social justice, Brandeis is the place.