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San Diego, Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Los Angeles,
Haiti, Peru—the conglomeration of places former Augustinian Volunteer Jeanette Gonzalez has visited and served
within since her undergrad days at Loyola
Marymount University. Gonzalez has done a lot in a short time. Four
immersion trips in four years to post-civil war El Salvador, visits to Haiti
after the earthquake that left foundations in shambles even when she arrived
seven months later, teaching in San Diego balanced out with triweekly border
crossings into Tijuana to serve as a caretaker in an orphanage. She’s now
getting her second master’s at the University
of San Diego in Peace and Justice Studies after receiving her M.A. in
Pastoral Care and Counseling. She’s also interning for Survivors of Torture
International, where she loves being able to connect refugees, the marginalized
and the poor with the services they need. Working for Catholic Relief Services
is one of her dreams, as is doing public policy. But for now, her capstone
project will have to take precedence.
On the other side of the country, rewinding back several
years, Yanil Rojas just knew. She
watched the migrant workers handle the horses in Delaware and forgot she was at
an interview being observed. “At some point, I forgot myself. It felt natural,”
she remembers. “It was the place I needed to be.”
That place ended up being Wilmington, Delaware, where Rojas
served with Franciscan Volunteer
Ministry. She attended a Catholic Volunteer Network-sponsored post-grad
service retreat where she met members of the CVN team. “Nikki (CVN Associate
Director) explained then, a year of service is ‘not a year off; it’s a year on.’
I didn’t waste my time at all,” Rojas says. Under her program, she shifted
between teaching ESL to Latino youth and young adults in a local church and
teaching Spanish to women in prison. She remembers casually telling the team at
the prison that she could speak Spanish fluently, thinking it would not be of
any use there.
“That was really what attracted people the most to me,” she
laughs. “They all wanted to learn Spanish.”
Teaching her native language soon became a staple of her
service, in addition to tutoring, helping with Bible Study, coordinating
Catholic mass and helping in culinary and life skills classes. Within the
diocese, Rojas found that ministering to Hispanics in their language was very
special, enabling her to connect with the community right away. “It got me to
people’s houses and helped me earn people’s trust,” she explains.
Gonzalez has had similar experiences with her native
language. “A pro to not having a language barrier was that I was able to
connect with people more easily,” she explains. Throughout her extensive
travels throughout Latin America and the Caribbean, Gonzalez remembers walking
with the people in solidarity. While serving, she saw how people who had gone
through so much oppression or hardship were able to get back on their feet. “It
was a transformative experience walking together,” she remembers. Because of
this, her current capstone project involves studying how people can use their
faith and spirituality to move beyond conflict.
The United States has recognized National Hispanic Heritage
Month from September 15 to October 15 since 1988. But Rojas and Gonzalez clearly
don’t need a special month to give back, stand up for or show their passion for
their Hispanic sisters and brothers—or anyone for that matter. Growing up in
the projects in Los Angeles, Gonzalez remembers a neighborhood of violence,
shootings and teen pregnancy. “I have a really strong family, but I was raised
in a broken community where people were marginalized. I wanted to do better for
myself,” she explains.
Meanwhile, in the Bronx and then in Lawrence, Mass., Rojas witnessed
first-hand some of the struggles the Latino community faced in U.S. society. As
a Latina herself, she felt blessed to have been able to receive an education
and live independently—having privileges many others go without. But Rojas does
more than just observe and be grateful for her blessings, she gives back.
Rojas and Gonzalez work and live on completely different
coasts and time zones. Their families are from different countries (the
Dominican Republic and Mexico). And they have never met. But some things unite
them more than they know: their work in programs under the Catholic Volunteer
Network, their first language, their impressive resumes and their passion for
Hispanic Ministry and serving the underprivileged nationally and abroad. Both
can also thank their Campus Ministry offices for introducing them to the idea
of post-grad service under one of Catholic Volunteer Network’s programs.
“I’m called to
service and to minister to those that have the potential to be great, but
haven’t been able to because of things like financial resources or cultural
prejudices,” Rojas explains. “That’s a need that I want to meet. I want to be
able to do that within a religious context and share my faith,” she continues. With
this in mind, Rojas is currently a first year graduate student at Boston College studying to attain a
dual master’s degree in Mental Health Counseling and Pastoral Ministry.
Gonzalez, on the other hand, is open to refugee work or development work. After writing her
capstone that will investigate the role of spirituality in peace building in
Latin America and the Caribbean, she hopes to pursue public policy or work with
a grassroots organization post-graduation in December.
During National Hispanic Heritage Month, we take time to
celebrate those whose ancestors came from Mexico, Central and South America,
the Caribbean and Spain—acknowledging their contributions to our country and celebrating
its richness as a result. These women’s lives attest to this richness, one that
has been cultivated throughout our history and that will continue to flourish
because of examples such as these.
Established
in 1963, Catholic Volunteer Network (CVN) is the leading non-profit association
for domestic and international volunteer programs. Currently, more than 14,000
volunteers serve in its member programs throughout the U.S. and in over 100
other countries worldwide. Its annual directory, RESPONSE, lists faith-based
volunteer opportunities both domestically and overseas. To receive a copy or
learn more, please visit www.catholicvolunteernetwork.org
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