Moreau Center: In Touch: Post-Grad Bulletin Board
Welcome to the Moreau Center's space for alumni and parents of alumni to share with us their own or their child’s post-grad volunteer experience (eg Holy Cross Associates, Peace Corps, Jesuit Volunteer Corps). We welcome experiences, stories, or anecdotes; impressions or memories; learning or advices; information you wish you'd known beforehand; reasons why your service was valuable; and anything else you'd like to share!
Art '05, Peace Corps, South Africa
So it finally rained yesterday. It was the first time since I've been here and the people tell me the first time in over a year. I am indeed alive and well in South Africa. I've told you all before that it's a crazy place here, and it truly is. The contradictions between the first and third world are incredibly stark and often side by side.
It's not out of the question to see a man riding on a donkey cart holding a cellphone, taking a picture of you with it. For those of you who don't know, I completed training and was sworn in last week by the Ambassador as a Peace Corps volunteer. I am currently settling into my permanent site where I will be working for the next two years. It's on the edge of the Kalahari desert, about three hours north of Kuruman below the Botswana border (for those of you with a map). The paved road ends awhile before my village, called Gata Lwa Tlou in Setswana (it means Elephant's Skull) and Perth in English. It's in livestock country, and my host dad is a rancher. My host mother is a teacher at one of the local primary schools where I work. Our house is on the edge of the village, so I have a 180 degree view of the veld. I work at a middle school also in the village and then another primary school in a village called Kome about 5k away. I'm still trying to work out transport. Other than that things are normalizing. I got over my initial bouts of diarhea and think I am stronger for it. I'm getting better at herding my family's goats into the kraal every night and hopefully my schools won't totally collapse when I start seriously trying to improve them (but I'm more worried about all the teachers leaving to go work in the mines). Anyway that's my life in a nutshell.
There's not a lot to do in the village other than the one lone foosball table in the shop, so I've been reading a lot. Mostly African history because almost no one has written me letters.
Kelly '00
....Something [my grad school professor out here in Pennsylvania] said … last week made me very proud of my own alma mater. He said, what's the use of all this education, this research and discovery and these excellent teaching universities without service? People in poverty must benefit from the fruits of scientific understanding. He was pretty adamant about that. And I remembered all of my classmates who have since graduation gone on to volunteer for Peace Corps or ACE or PACE, or carry a robust sense of service in their hearts and workplaces. So many of us (amid the college maelstrom of coursework and love lives and growing up and staying healthy) built houses on Saturdays in the rain or learned about migrant farming during spring break or served coffee to homeless folks on weeknights. I hope the service component is always one of the best things about UP. It's still one of the best things about many of my friends who graduated with me. (Kelly, Class of 2000) ....Something [my grad school professor out here in Pennsylvania] said … last week made me very proud of my own alma mater. He said, what's the use of all this education, this research and discovery and these excellent teaching universities without service? People in poverty must benefit from the fruits of scientific understanding. He was pretty adamant about that. And I remembered all of my classmates who have since graduation gone on to volunteer for Peace Corps or ACE or PACE, or carry a robust sense of service in their hearts and workplaces. So many of us (amid the college maelstrom of coursework and love lives and growing up and staying healthy) built houses on Saturdays in the rain or learned about migrant farming during spring break or served coffee to homeless folks on weeknights. I hope the service component is always one of the best things about UP. It's still one of the best things about many of my friends who graduated with me. (Kelly, Class of 2000)own alma mater. He said, what's the use of all this education, this research and discovery and these excellent teaching universities without service? People in poverty must benefit from the fruits of scientific understanding. He was pretty adamant about that. And I remembered all of my classmates who have since graduation gone on to volunteer for Peace Corps or ACE or PACE, or carry a robust sense of service in their hearts and workplaces. So many of us (amid the college maelstrom of coursework and love lives and growing up and staying healthy) built houses on Saturdays in the rain or learned about migrant farming during spring break or served coffee to homeless folks on weeknights. I hope the service component is always one of the best things about UP. It's still one of the best things about many of my friends who graduated with me. (Kelly, Class of 2000)
Meghan '05, Peace Corps, Kazakhstan
I am currently a Peace Corps volunteer in Kazakhstan, and no it's not like in the Borat movie:) I teach English to 4th through 11th graders in a town of 15,000 people. I wrote a grant for $2,500 to create a summer youth camp at my school, complete with puppet theatre and the kids and community really love it. I live in an apartment with a cat, and everyday I light a coal-burning stove to keep warm. For fun I hang out with other volunteers and local friends. The opportunity to experience a different way of life has been amazing for me and I am so grateful for it. Learning the traditions of another culture have helped me broaden my world view and get a much better perspective on America. I encourage anyone who wants to challenge themselves and lead a life uncommon to join Peace Corps, because it will impact who you are and how you think forever, for the best.
Katie '03, Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, South Dakota
"Hello All! I've been back in Portland since September, after 2 yeras of teaching art and photography and driving a school bus at Red Cloud, a Jesuit High School on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, and living in a spiritual community. That's right, South Dakota, home of Mt. Rushmore, the spectacular Badlands, Wall Drug, and Wounded Knee; featured in Dances with Wolves, Skinds, and that one Val Kilmer film, Thunderheart; and just left of the middle of nowhere. :) Good thing I'm easily amused-- tumble weeds and prairie dogs never fail to crack me up. It was eye opening-- Pine Ridge battles to be the poorest county in America, with rampant drug and alcohol abuse, poverty, diabetes, and unemployment. In spite of all of this, my students were full of life and humor and inspiringly eager to get a good education with the ultimate goal to change things on the Rez. It was fascinating -- The Lakota Sioux culture was all- pervasive, and the integration of Modern America and this rich, symbolic way of life is open to years of study. I am proud to say that I can count to 10 and name all of the colors in Lakota, but I am also sad that I was there for two years and yet only barely scratched the surface. It was fabulous, for sure-- how else would I have discovered by deep and abiding love for driving school buses, overcome my fear of large and hairy spiders, or taken up knitting obsessively? Where else could I have been that would make driving 2 hours to see a really bad movie the ultimate in Friday night fun? Who else would I be now that I've experienced such a profound and life-altering vision of the world? How else could I have discerned what I want to do with my life? So now, after 9 months of aimlessly living in Portland (which I looooove-- South Dakota is many things, but green and temperate it is emphatically NOT), I am intending to go back to school to obtain my teaching certificate in hopes of teaching high school Spanish and Art to at-risk youth, whether at an alternative high school in the city or in a small town in the middle of nowhere. By living Teaching, Faith and Service for the past two years, I've set the course for the rest of my life. Thanks, OVS, for helping to set me on this course!"
Becky '01, Holy Cross Associates 2001-2002, Wilkes-Barre, PA
"My year with HCA was very inspirational and has forever changed my outlook. My roommates from the past year are lifelong friends. I worked as a social worker in a homeless clinic. It was amazing. I am now a 4th year medical student at University of Washington."
Monica '00, Farm of the Child, Honduras
"...Modesto proposed a question to the group. What does a person or a community do when they are called by God? There were quite a few responses... the gist was that a person abandons their own wishes, their own will to that of God...trusting completely in the divine plan, and believing that true joy and happiness occurs only when one responds to that call.
Then he said, 'Well that's what we think...let's see what God says,' as he opened his Bible. He read the passage of the call of the first disciples. Jesus says to them follow me, and they drop everything and follow him... committing themselves wholly and freely to God.
...I went to bed, uncomfortably close (so close in fact that spooning was inevitable) to my fellow volunteer, listening to a chicken cooing in the corner and a chorus of a family of twenty sleeping soundly. I've been trying for months now to succinctly communicate what it is I have learned here. His words clarifies it all...a life vulnerable only to love and founded on trust in God is the most joyful and peaceful life. Perhaps it was the desire to live that principle that brought me here in the first place.
Now it is our mission to bring this vivacious yet counterculture principle to the States and integrate it into our every action. It is a daunting task and perhaps more difficult then the two years of volunteer service in Honduras. I return a different person, both humbled and inspired by the opportunity of life!"
Christina, Jesuit Volunteers International, Belize
"I have now surpassed the one month mark of my arrival in Belize. Belize is a land of paradox and beauty. From the first day of my arrival I have felt welcomed and accepted. People are anxious to hear what it is that brought me to the tiny and often forgotten country of Belize. People in Belize, say what they think! (Miss, do you have any pickney (Creole for 'children') and Miss, are you married?, usually in that order are common questions.) The students that are under my care have seen so much in their lives, I often stand amazed at their courage and strength. The girls' honesty floors me again and again! Several girls have come into my office and recounted horrible stories of sexual abuse, usually at the hands of step-fathers. It amazes me that these young girls can continue to trust anyone in their lives, let alone me, who they hardly know. It is truly a pleasure and a privilege for me to accompany these young girls on their journey to wholeness.
Confidentiality does not mean the same thing in Belize as it does in the states. It is as if Belize itself survives on shush (Creole for 'gossip'). Just on Friday I had a young first former come to me in tears, saying "Miss, a note fell out of my back pack and my teacher read it to the whole class!" The note depicted and explained some of her past abuse experience in great detail. I was flabbergasted that a person of authority, a teacher, could ever do such a thing that it took me a minute to respond. I am definitely not in the states any more! The principal and I came up with a solution that seemed to work, and the girl and I have a weekly appointment. I guess my role here is not to fix but witness the systemic problems I see in Belize. In that situation all I could do is stand in awe of her resilient spirit, and hope that what I said would leave her with a sense of security and hope."
Mark, Holy Cross Associates 2003, South Bend, Indiana
"Like many people, when I think of community service and serving the less fortunate, I think of working maybe at a homeless shelter or a soup kitchen, at a food pantry or a hospital comforting patients; either way, though, there's more of that one on one relationship with the people you are serving. It's more of a 'direct' way of doing community service, and a lot of the time you can see the results of your work pretty quickly. It seemed, though, that more of the work that I was doing involved working with the people who were working directly with the community that the Robinson Center served. This was new to me, this more 'indirect' form of service and, since I only had experience with the more direct form of community service throughout college, it really wasn't what I expected when I decided to do community service after I graduated. My experience as a volunteer coordinator, though, has been nothing short of amazing.
...The South Bend house's co-facilitator Fr. Tom Smith told us [something] one night when we were gathered. He told us that it was incredibly hard being pulled out of Africa, where he was feeding the hungry, to be put in an office job at Moreau Seminary as the director of the Holy Cross Mission Center. He said, though, that any job you do, as long as you do it with love, will both aid and change the lives of anyone who may be involved in whatever job you may have. This is something that I now strive to do, and hope that all of you are finding that love in whatever you are doing."
Jeff '02, serving in Ecuador 2004-05
"This year there was a hotly contested race for mayor of Duran (the city we live in just across the river from Guadyaquil). Marianita was the incumbent mayor running for re-election. She was actually fairly popular here because she had done a lot of public works, built roads and parks. However, her challenger Alfredito Arboleda (aka Alfredito) had a lot of money he was willing to spend to win the election.
The irony is, Alfredito didn't even live in Duran, he lives in Guayaquil and has lots of money. On top of that his party, the PRE, stole like bandits the last time they were in office. So what does he do to win? Buy stuff. He spent a ton of money and went on a public relations blitzkrieg. In my neighborhood the houses are made of unpainted cane or cement and the PRE went around painting houses in red and yellow, their colors. Alfredito made many posters of himself grinning behind his goatee with one fist raised high in a very fascist looking salute. Each poster reads, 'Alfredito, Mi Pana.' Roughly translating into, 'Little Alfredo is my homeboy.'
I couldn't believe it. Kids in our neighborhood had backpacks with his face on them, t shirts and soccer balls."
Tarry '05, Salesian Volunteers, Timor
"There were children. Ahh yes, I do love being with God's chosen ones. Sometimes, I think they are the only ones who understand me. The first group of children I came in contact with was the seminarians. They are elementary school boys, who wish to develop their faith. They had adoration, lecio divina, and prayed the liturgy of the hours. Wow, and to think they were only 7-12 years old. For myself, I did not know of such devotions until I went to college. They asked me if I wanted to take a walk with them Sunday morning, so I consented and they led me to one of the boy's houses. There, I introduced myself to the boy's family and told them I was a Salesian Volunteer. Afterwards, the boys started climbing trees and picking fruit from them. One of them gave me a fruit. It's size and shape resembled that of a small pear, but on the inside it was pink. I can not remember the name of it. The second group of children I encountered were the orphans. After taking a long snack with Ina, Ute, Sr. Beatrice, and Sr. Jana, I asked if I could visit their orphanage. So they led me across the street to Mary Help Orphanage. It is an orphanage for about 100 girls ages 5-15. Some of the girls are there because their families are unable to support them. Others because their parents entrusted them to the care of the Sisters before the Indonesian invasion in '99. Still others, due to abusive families..."
E-mail moreaucenter@up.edu to submit your own story!
