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Over
this years? March Break from school I, along with two other teachers,
had the privilege of accompanying a group of 14 students from
Immaculata Catholic High School to Consuelo in the Dominican Republic.
The purpose of this trip was to experience first hand the daily reality
of life in this country. The group had met together weekly for over a
year prior to the trip learning about life in the country, fundraising
which allowed us to bring close to $12000, and preparing emotionally
and spiritually for what we would experience. The money raised covered
the cost of expenses incurred by the families with whom we were
billeted as well as a substantial donation to the Grey Sisters of the
Immaculate Conception (GSIC) who were our contacts and who founded
Immaculata High School where I am chaplain.The students visited rural
schools, medical clinics, sugar-cane plantations, senior?s residences
and a women?s centre. The experience is meant to be as much about
education as it is about social justice, as we attempt not only to
help, but to also experience the culture, hardship, blessing and
lifestyle of this nation.
What I would really like to share with you
is, not what we did and what we saw, but what these students
experienced as shared by them every evening when we gathered for
reflection. I should add that these students were from a variety of
nations themselves as Immaculata boasts of a student population
representing over 80 cultures of our world and they were a mere 16 and
17 years old ? two students in grade 11 and the remainder in grade 12 -
their graduating year. (I should add that we would never have taken
students in grade 11 but these two girls are leaders in this school
when it comes to social justice activities. One is Slovakian and the
other Pakistani).
The first evening, the adults led
prayer and reflection, but we told them that, for the remainder of our
time there, it would be up to them to prepare the evening. One of the
teachers said that he had this little book with some prayers from
around the world, for different groups and different experiences and
that it might be helpful in getting them started. He placed it on our
focus point in the middle of the room at the end of our prayer and
reflection time and suggested that, in groups of two ? their partners
with whom they were billeted ? each would be responsible to lead an
evening. It never made it to the table again that week as before the
end of our time, the next two students were volunteering for the next
evening!
The format took on its own structure. The
students who prepared the evening would say, out of their experience of
that day, why they had chosen the prayer they had. They would then
share the prayer with the group and begin the reflection on the day.
It is as a result of these evenings that I use the title ?a privileged
journey.? I also could use the adjectives: humbling, sacred,
reflective, trusting, hopeful, etc. As a chaplain in a catholic high
school who seeks to empower kids to discover the imminent in their
experience, I was ?blown away? as the students would say, by the depth
of their reflection.
One day on our way to a sugar
cane field, we stopped to speak with two men who were loading sugar
cane from a truck onto a train. One of our boys reached out to shake
the hand of one of the men. The man said no to him as he was so very
dirty. The student assured this gentleman that he did not care and
insisted on shaking his hand. The old man was thrilled and grasped
this young man?s hand. That evening, our student reflected that he had
shaken the hand of a very poor sugar cane worker today. He said that
the man was older, very thin and very dirty. He said that in his
calloused hands, he could feel the whole nation and the hardship these
people experience in scraping out an existence. Yet he could feel the
warmth, welcome and genuineness of the encounter and the hope that
filled his welcoming eyes . . . Another day we attended an English
class at the University of Santo Domingo where one of the Grey sisters
teaches. We interacted with her students and that evening, one lad
reflected that he had enough pesos in his pocket to pay the equivalent
of two years tuition at USD and how this realization had affected him.
Nothing
escaped the hearts and senses of these students and, together, they
grew in their trust, confidence and in the knowledge of a God who
journeys with them. It was a humbling experience to be part of this
group and, as Chaplain, I was very proud of the respectfulness with
which they approached all the people they met and the ease with which
they engaged in the experience. God is indeed alive and well in the
lives and experiences of these students. One of the girls said to me
as we were lined up to go through immigration at La Romana airport,
?Sister, I?ve been listening to all the conversation around me and
isn?t it interesting that those who spent their March break at the
resorts are ready to come home, whereas we who spent our time with the
poor are crying because we have to leave.?
I thank God
for the privilege of spending my days as I do with high school
students, but time spent with them in this way, can be viewed in no
other way than pure grace. It doesn?t get better than this!
Shelley Lawrence, rscj
Province of Canada |
