10.28.09
Posted in Uncategorized at 2:35 am by David Ebrahim
I am David Ebrahim. I lived in St Theresa’s Home for 15 years and am proud to say that they(the Sisters of St Augustine) are my mothers. From 3 to 15 years of age they looked after me with so much love and kindness. We were over 1000 boys ranging in ages from 3 months to 15 years. I was 3 when i got to them and left when I was 15. There was never a night that I went to bed hungry, or neglected, always had clothing,education and health. They were very firm but loving and kind.These remarkable women have left an indelible mark on my life. I thanked them by becoming a teacher, and deputy principal. I have taught for over 20 years and it was their formatation that has brought me thus far.
Mother Gabriel OSA
Mother Regina OSA
Sister Philomena OSA
Mother Aloysius OSA
Sister John Bosco OSA
Sister Cecilia OSA
Sister Theresa OSA
The above are all deceased, may God have infinite mercy on their souls. I thank God for bringing them into my life.
Those still active at the orphanage, Sister Marie Therese, Sister Maureen (Athony) Sister Marie Yvonne may God greatly bless them.
I want to join the Augustinian Volunteers. How do I?
Permalink
10.20.09
Posted in AV 2009-10 Domestic at 8:35 am by KBevins
I cannot believe it has already been two months since I have left what I’ve known for 22 years and stepped into the unknown on the South Side of Chicago. There are already so many stories, feelings, emotions and experiences that can be shared but I will stick to just one.
One of the sessions during our 8 day Orientation was led by Fr. Joe. His topic of conversation was “Turn the me into we”. Fr. Joe told us that during our year of service, we had to think of our community members wants and needs before our own. We essentially have to stop thinking of me and start thinking of we. I thought it would be easy because I am doing a year of service which is thinking of others first. But that is not exactly how it works.
I wouldn’t say that I was wrong but I definitely was not right. Thinking of we instead of me is a whole new concept when living in community. Before coming to Chicago I thought living a life in community would be like living with roommates in college, after the first couple of weeks I quickly learned that it is not like college living at all. As a community, we have explored the streets of Chicago, met our amazing neighbors, gone to St. Rita football games, ate basically every dinner together and prayed together at least twice a week.
Kat, Susan and Lisa. Three people that I have come to love over the past six weeks and the three people that have made living in community and working in Chicago better than I could have imagined. These young women have helped me to learn, challenge and grow in so many ways in such a short amount of time that I can only imagine what it will be like next June. They are also the three people that make thinking as we instead of me a challenge as well as a blessing.
Community is a blessing because if it were not for my community members I would not be as happy as I am, living in Chicago and working at St. Margaret of Scotland School as the computer teacher. If it were not for them I would not be able to process my days as an inexperienced teacher trying to learn about St. Margaret and computers while teaching at the same time. If it were not for community, I would not be able to pray and grow in my relationship with God as much as I have in the past two months. If it were not for community, I would not be eating as healthy and going to the gym as much, which for me is different and challenging.
Community has challenged me to think of we instead of me. I have to put my wants and needs on the backburner and think of what Kat, Susan and Lisa might want and need. In community I am learning to ask how their days are and listen to the whole answer, not just some of it. If one member of the community has a bad day, it affects the whole community. I am learning to put aside my wants and do whatever I might be able to do to help another community member.
It is still early to say how much of a challenge and a blessing that community might be. But for the first two months, it is just what I need to get up every morning and smile. Turning the me into we is definitely not easy but it makes this experience challenging, fun and worth the ride.
Kaitlin Bevins
Chicago ‘09-‘10
Permalink
10.13.09
Posted in AV 2009-10 Domestic at 6:32 pm by Anne Mollner
Hello everyone! It is the middle of October and I am about a month and half into volunteering. It has been a whirlwind of challenges and growth, along with a lot of good times.
I’m sitting down to write this blog at eight thirty at night- after a day of working at the orphanage, having community meeting, and praying with my community. To be honest, I didn’t know what I was going to write about until our prayer time. In our prayer tonight, we focused on our service sites- praying intentions for the people we work with, praying in thankfulness for the good that we see happening, and praying about where we have seen God and where God is leading us.
So…where do I see God here?
I see God in so many moments of my day- in all of the joyful, stressful, rewarding, and challenging moments. I see God in my co-workers, the kids that I’m with, my community members, prayer time, and time that I spend enjoying San Diego.
One of my service sites is at an orphanage in Tijuana. Here I spend my days helping with caring for the babies, I give a pre-school class, I eat lunch with the kids, I help with homework, and then I get to just play with the kids. Sometimes it is a long day and it wears me out, but seeing the love that is there is always worth it. Everyone at the orphanage- from the workers, to the women that cook, to the kids- shares the love of a family. What strikes me the most about this love is that it is most precious in the simple moments of everyday tasks-eating lunch, doing projects, reading, etc.. It is when I am at the orphanage that I am reminded that God has given us one another as a gift- to lean on one another and to bring joy to each other.
My other service site is working at a grade school as a P.E. teacher. When I started working at St. Pat’s I was immediately struck by the community there. The teachers were all extremely welcoming, helpful, and generous. The kids at St. Pat’s absolutely amazed me. Sure, they fight like kids do, but I have never seen a group of kids care for one another like these kids. Also, I like teaching a lot more than I thought I would! I’m inspired by the kids and it always makes me want to do better. Being at St. Pat’s has taught me how to trust God more. I have learned to trust that God will lead me to opportunities to use the gifts that he has given me. I hope that I continue to learn to let God guide me.
Last, but not least- my community. I live with five other people that work at various service sites. They are the ones that have helped me grow the most in my faith. One of the most important things I’ve learned is this year is that community is one of the biggest parts of the Augustinian spirituality- and I can see why. They show me God simply by loving me. I see God in my community when we make each other laugh, go out for frozen yogurt, ask about each other’s day, pray for one another, and support one another.
Speaking of my community members…Emily is making dinner, so I have to go!
Peace!
Anne Mollner
San Diego 09/10
Permalink
10.12.09
Posted in AV 2009 International at 5:24 pm by lizzieperu
My foot is covered in onion, tomato, and milk of magnesia. Why? Because I decided to knock over a hot frying pan full of oil while frying bananas. My host family leaped into action and my burned foot is now covered in local remedies. For a foreigner, Chulucanas is always full of little surprises. I read Dan’s blog entry before starting to work on my own, and he really got me thinking about being caught off guard here. It really does happen every day! You learn to expect suprises but little things just continue to pop up and surprise you. Let me give you an idea of what I’m talking about.
For example- how many of you have actually heard a donkey bray? I myself had only read about in childrens books before. “The donkey says hee-haw.” Okay, well that’s not exactly how it goes. Did you know that the -hee- is a high-pitched intense sucking in of air in order to let out a resounding, almost blood curdling - HAAAWWWW!!!-? It just about knocks you over the first time you hear it. Ever seen a guy balancing a propane tank while riding a bicycle? Watched a dog lift a leg on a bag of oranges for sale on the side of the road? Seen kids bring in beer and machetes to school for a class project? It’s those random things that have really kept me on my toes here in Chulucanas.
While I could spend hours listing off the things that have caught me off guard in Peru this year, I thought it might be better to show you a few examples. Let’s start with mangos.
Nothing like seeing your other community members in aprons and caps. We stayed with host families in February, and several of the families are involved in a business cooperative that makes products out of mangos. The mangos here are absolutely to die for. Anyway the families involved invited some of us to go out to the chakra (farm) to see the work they are doing. This is Kevin with his host mother.
Corn.
When we arrived, our house wasn’t ready to live in yet. February was spent helping the work crew get our house ready, and on March 1st, we moved in. When we got there, our backyard was full of corn. It turns out that one of the Augustinians had planted it for us. Our backyard turned into a jungle as the corn grew and we had to figure out to do with all of it. At the time, Christie was taking a cooking class so she came home and announced that we were going to make tamales. So we did.
Dinosaurs
We moved in to discover that there is a huge family of iguanas living in our backyard. There are at least 7 of them for sure. They hang out on our roof and on the walls surrounding our garden. They creep up to the house to eat our grass and take off running at lightning speed if they see us. One actually got into our house and pooped on our floor. Twice. One of the best lies that Peruvian parents tell their children? “Don’t touch that or an iguana will bite you!”
Uniform
Flashback to my first teacher meeting:
-Liz, have you had your uniform made yet?
-Me: What uniform?
It turns out that all Peruvian teachers wear uniforms, and quite proudly I may add. They all fussed over me when I first showed up wearing it (que liiinda, que flaquiiita, que fresquiiiita…), although the disapproval of me wearing Chaco sandals with my uniform to school the first day was unavoidable…
I saved the best for last. Flaming cattle.
When Dan and I went to Pacaipampa (up in the Andes), they did the famous “vaca loca” (crazy cow.) Basically they make this cow and put it on a frame (with a real tail, mind you) and then a guy holds it up while another guy douses the horns with kerosene and lights them on fire… and then the “vaca loca” chases people around the plaza. I mean he runs full speed into the crowd and everybody takes off running. Small children, old people, everybody! He actually caught one of the sisters on fire who didn’t get out of the way! He had to pat out the flames on her back! This is one of the favorite local traditions.
At any rate, some of the surprising moments have been my best experiences here. When you look at the big picture, almost everything I experience in Peru comes down to community. Neighbors take care of each other, families are very tight, neigborhoods rally when a child gets sick or a woman gives birth… and boy do they celebrate together! There are many hardships, but the people in Chulucanas as well as in the rest of Peru really know how to grateful for what they have and just enjoy spending time with one another. I have learned about this from my host family, from the teachers at school, from my students, from my neighbors, from the members of the parish, and even from the local shopkeepers. Many Americans I know should really open their doors more and plant for each other, celebrate with one another, and build stronger communities in their neighborhoods. If that doesn’t work, there are always cows to be set on fire
Liz Farrey
Chulucanas, Peru Community 2009
Permalink
.JPG)
.JPG)
