March 27, 2018

Elms College students spend spring break on mission trips

REGIONAL
Staff report

 

 

CHICOPEE – During spring break in March, College of Our Lady of the Elms sent 38 students to Jamaica, Nicaragua, New Orleans, and Trenton, N.J., on mission trips to help those in need.

The trips allow them to live the mission of the college and the Sisters of St. Joseph, and bring to life the Catholic social teachings that form the base of the Elms experience. They also extend the students’ education by instilling the importance of cultural sensitivity and service to others, and teach them how to safely conduct themselves in new environments and cultures.

“Mission trips really do open students’ hearts and minds to the challenges faced by the people in each site,” said Eileen Kirk, assistant director of campus ministry at Elms College. “Each time students step out of their own individual worlds and experience the various aspects of a mission trip, they are learning something about that particular locale and its people, as well as learning something about themselves.

“They make the connection between what is taught in the classroom and how to transfer those concepts and knowledge into utilizing their skills on the trip. Students come away with a greater appreciation of the resiliency of the people with whom they encounter,” said Kirk. “Students also discover strengths and talents within themselves that they may not have been aware of before the trip.”

Specific tasks vary from site to site, but projects on mission trips often include light manual labor, visiting with the ill and elderly, working with children in schools and communities, and helping in soup kitchens, food pantries, and thrift stores. A final phase focuses on reflection on the experience, readjusting students after the immersion experience, and discussing ways to identify service opportunities while continuing to help out in their own communities.

In Jamaica, Elms volunteers worked with Passionist Volunteers International. Each day, a group shadowed a Passionist volunteer and engaged with local residents in a spirit of accompaniment. They visited people, participated in church services, shared in community meals, assisted in a health clinic, taught a music class for 3-, 4-, and 5-year-old children, visited with HIV clients, played soccer with the boys at Bosco Career Advancement Institute, and conducted home visits with residents of bush villages.

“I got so much out of the trip,” said communication sciences and disorders major Silvana Tellerico ’18 of Southington, Conn. “While walking with and building community with the people of Jamaica, I learned the importance of welcoming others. The people that I interacted with were so welcoming.”

In Nicaragua, the Elms group partnered once again with Amigos for Christ. The volunteers worked alongside Nicaraguans in digging trenches to bring clean water to rural communities; they also spent time visiting with the Nicaraguan people, visited a school to offer arts and crafts activities for the children, and played soccer and baseball with local children.

“During the week I spent in Nicaragua, I learned many life lessons: fortitude while trying to speak Spanish, justice while helping the people of Pedregal work to get clean water, and patience while spending the night in the Miami airport,” said social work major Lindsay Veilleux ’19 of Enfield, Conn. “I learned about faith while visiting their churches, hope while conversing with the locals, and charity while actively pushing my body past its limitations, digging deeper because I want them to have clean water as soon as possible. But the most important lesson I learned on this trip is that I have the capability of changing the world through my miniscule actions. Simply by sharing a smile, saying hola, or giving a hug, I have an impact on the people around me.”

“On this trip, I learned that love truly has no barriers – not language, race, culture,” said nursing major Caitlyn Hoschtetler ’18 of South Hadley, who also went to Nicaragua. “We are able to show love and compassion towards each other regardless of any barrier that could be in our way. That lesson is definitely something I have taken with me back home and tried to implement every day with all the people I interact with.”

In New Orleans, the Elms group returned once again to partner with St. Bernard Project and help to build a home for a family whose house was destroyed in a hurricane. The volunteer work consisted of drywalling and mudding a house in preparation for the next phase of renovation. The group also visited the local jazz site of Preservation Hall, as well as the Lower Ninth Ward Museum, where they met Leona Tate, a civil rights pioneer of public school desegregation.

“This experience opened my eyes to the fact that Hurricane Katrina wasn’t just a natural disaster – it was a complete disaster,” said education major Andrew Belliveau ’19 of Lynn, Mass. “People lost loved ones. People had to endure deplorable conditions and try to seek refuge in the Superdome. People were taken advantage of. People had nowhere to turn. The government and city of New Orleans offered aid to those affected but, the majority of residents affected did not qualify for that aide because of the low standard of life. Because of it, people are still rebuilding thirteen years after the hurricane hit – thirteen.”

In Trenton, for the second year in a row, the Elms mission trip group partnered with Center for FaithJustice in Lawrenceville, N.J. The group volunteered at Sprout University of the Arts, helping out in the classrooms and visiting with the children at the school. They also volunteered at Catholic Charities of Trenton. A snow day prevented the group from going to another scheduled placement, so they made use of their time by sprucing up and cleaning off the retreat house where they stayed.

“Going to Trenton, New Jersey, changed my perspective of the world around me,” said education major Victoria Wanko ’21 of Yarmouth, Mass. “It opened up my eyes to a new world. I would be oblivious to this world if I was not given the opportunity to make a change. The optimistic students at Sprout University taught me the importance of being part of a community full of love and support. The adults who ran the school taught me how important it is to have faith and trust in God, for he has a plan for each and every one of us.”

On March 1, before spring break began, the Elms community gathered in St. Joseph Chapel to bless the 38 students before they went on the mission trips. During the ceremony, Father Mark Stelzer, Elms chaplain, reminded the students that traveling is not just a physical act but an experience that is both sacramental and holy. Each student received a special blessing and a stone with an inspirational message to guide their journey.

“I learned that we in America are blessed with things we don’t even think about, like walls on our houses and clean water at our disposal,” said Michaela Falk ’19 of Southington, Conn., who traveled to Nicaragua. “I also learned that kindness and love come from any and all walks of life, no matter who you are or what you own.”

“I think everyone should do service, whether it’s for a day, week, month, year, in our country or outside the U.S. Doing volunteer work gives you a chance to learn another perspective of life,” Tellerico said.

In February, a group of six Elms traveled to New Orleans to work with St. Bernard Project to help rebuild a hurricane-destroyed home, just as the Elms student group would do a month later. This was the first alumni mission trip offered by Elms.

“Through this trip, we as alumni were able to carry on the values of Elms College and humbly experience traditions and cultures different from our own while aiding in the continued efforts to rebuild the city following Katrina,” said alumna Delina deVillier ’15.

“I am proud to say we are one of the few colleges running an alumni mission trip program,” said Jessican Colson, director of alumni relations. “We wanted to identify more ways for alumni to keep in touch with Catholic identity, while also providing an outlet for those alumni who participated in mission trips as students to reconnect with the college in a way that was meaningful to them.”