“I knew I wanted to see the world, but I also wanted to learn how fortunate I am and give back to others,” said Lindsay Mason, ’09, who volunteered with Mobile Crèche, an organization in India that establishes temporary schools for children whose parents work on construction sites. The schools provide structure and an informal education to children who otherwise would have no access to education, no oversight to keep them safe in dangerous construction zones, and nowhere to play. “I realized pity is not what these kids what or need. They want to be kids. The best part is when I can teach them a game or a craft and they just have so much fun with it, or when the teachers tell me through a translator that so many more kids are showing up to school because they know ‘deedee’—big sister, that’s me—will be there. Those are the parts that make this service so rewarding.”
“An immersion experience like Project Mexico will break you down and build you back up, helping you to form a well-educated solidarity with the real world. It will make you ask,'why?' Why is the world the way it is? Why is there so much injustice and human suffering?” said Shannon Spendley, ’09, who traveled to Tecate and Mexicale, Mexico, as part of Project Mexico. “Mexico awakened my eyes to the real world, a world outside Loyola, a world outside Baltimore, and a world outside the United States. I saw a world that is broken, divided, and unjust, a world where poverty is widespread and basic human needs are not met, a world where access to health care and education is far from adequate.”
“I was taking a class about indigenous texts. They’re obviously really old and kind of far removed,” said Christine Schaad, ’09, who has taken several service-learning courses, including one where she tutored African refugees as part of her academic experience. “When my refugee friends started speaking Swahili or even French, I was definitely challenged in new ways. That contact helps me to grow. I would absolutely recommend it because I think it’s a way to get the true Jesuit mission. Sometimes if you’re having trouble relating to a text or a concept, it can be a great way to make the subject come alive and get to know Baltimore too.”
“Nowhere does simplicity show its true colors as an undertone of complexity as it does in a poverty stricken area such as Mexicali. During our time on Project Mexico, I found these concepts persistently buzzing through my head,” said Daniel Koster, ’11, who traveled to Tecate and Mexicale, Mexico, as part of Project Mexico. “Although months were spent preparing to head down south and understand the many factors that contribute the reality of the people’s difficulty, it’s hard to say if anything could have prepared us for what we were to come to know.”