During a service trip to help rebuild the city of Joplin, Miss., destroyed by the 2011 tornado, Luis Gonzales Rios ’14 met a mother who could not afford to buy books for her three daughters.
“It made me really sad,” Rios said. “I remember growing up something my dad always told me was, ‘I can say ‘no’ to everything but I will never say ‘no’ to a book or to food.’”
Deeply affected by the girls, whose basic needs of food and education were not fulfilled “because they weren’t able to,” Rios decided to purchase books for them, to the girls’ delight.
“Something hit me to where these girls were so glad that a stranger just bought them a book and to me it wasn’t something incredible that I did, but to them it was incredible,” Rios continued. “It made me realize people struggle whether they are hit by a tornado or they haven’t been … and they gave me a new perspective.”
Rios is one of two student leaders who have taken the initiative to organize a Jesuit Universities Humanitarian Action Network alternative spring break service trip to Atlanta, Ga., for next semester where they will be working with the International Rescue Committee to help refugees in the United States.
“It’s a good opportunity for Fairfield students and it puts a face on the refugee crisis,” said Karen Parkinson, program coordinator for the Center for Faith and Public Life.
Two advisers, Economics Professor Dr. Thomas Murray and Assistant Director of the Department of Public Safety Officer John Ritchie, will be attending the service trip along with the students.
“We see the advisers as one more member of the group,” said Rios.
The JUHAN service trip began two years ago when a Fairfield alumnus in Joplin contacted the university in hopes of building a connection with Fairfield, according to Julie Mughal, assistant director for the Center for Faith and Public Life.
Different from Campus Ministry service trips, JUHAN’s trip focuses on more humanitarian needs that “are not always front-page news,” said Rios. The students have control over where to go on the trip as long as it involves humanitarian efforts.
In terms of the applications, Angelina Morisi ‘15 and Rios looked at professor recommendations, what the students were involved in on campus and if they had previous experience with community service. The 10 students attending raise funds to cover the total cost of the week-long trip, usually about $500.
Those who applied “felt they were called to do service,” said Morisi, a student leader for the trip. “One girl had gone to India for two years to work in an orphanage, and a lot of applicants were immigrants who can help build personal connections with the refugees.”
For Mughal what is most important for the students who participate in the service trips is the “richness of the experience … more than anything, it’s the personal growth you see in the students” who come back a different person than they were before they left.
“Everyone on the trip bonds together quickly and they become really good friends before the week is over,” added Morisi.
The service trip to Atlanta, Ga. garnered positive attention from students.
“I think it’s a great alternative to spring break and it’s great that people want to go,” said Resident Assistant Alexa Annunziata ’15. Participating in the trip “definitely takes a lot of strength.”
For Matthew Lazicky ’16 it is “pretty cool” that the trip is in Atlanta because “when you hear about service trips, you think that it’s out of the country … and it’s great that this is helping the people in the U.S. who also need our help.”
Leave a Reply