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Guatema-love

June 10th, 2015 embrea17

 

“… this place, this bond, this faith, this love, this Holy Cross.”  -William H. Jenks ’54

Hello Friends!

On May 24th at 3AM, I embarked on the third immersion trip of my HC career. I climbed into a van with ten other students and two members of the chaplain community and we headed to Logan airport, in order to go to Houston airport, in order to travel to Guatemala City airport, in order to get in another van for 5 hours and drive to Quetzaltenango, Guatemala.

Although I have had ample time to reflect on the amazing experience that was this immersion trip, it’s still really difficult for me to begin to respond to the question,

“How was your trip?”

I usually start with some general indication that the trip was wonderful. Then, I flail around in an endless sea of evidence to support my thesis. Do I talk about my 3rd grade friends, Paoula, Lucia, and Jennifer, that brought such hilariously different light and personality to class every day? Or maybe about Rosenda, a woman with the strength and courage to be provide for her children independently? Do I lead in with my newly found love for boiled plantains? Do I talk about the weather, how it was like spring every day? How the landscape was absolutely gorgeous? Do I point out that there is a lot of suffering? Do I point out that there is a lot of joy? Do I plug for Education and Hope? Do any of those ideas even begin to do justice to the trip?

It would be, to some extent, exhausting to try to explain to others how meaningful this trip was for me, but it is also clear that embarking on that endeavor is of the utmost importance. Working with the wonderful nonprofit Education and Hope was something that I am incredibly grateful for, because I witnessed a truly empowering organization–one in which community members serve other community members. Relationships within that authentic community were marked by love, compassion, and justice. It was an amazing gift to be welcomed into that space like I have never been welcomed anywhere else (despite being the pastiest of gringos with shaky-at-best Spanish). Indeed, on top of learning about love, justice, and respect, I learned about real hospitality and generosity.  I learned about the sacrifices that we make for those that we love, I discovered my place within my own communities, and my own family, even as I was thousands of miles away from them.

The 13 of us were certainly not at the Holy Cross campus, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that it somehow was Holy Cross.  That indeed, Holy Cross is something much more than a place on a hill. It is an idea, a love, a shared experience.

DFTBA

P.S. This picture almost captures the joy my friend Marily (also a member of the class of 2017) and I shared to be close to finishing a less-than-easy hike.

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One Response to “Guatema-love”

  1. Emily,
    Thank you for describing your love for Guatemala so vividly…..it was obvious that this trip made a positive impact on you. I am certain that you also made a post over impact on the lovely people of Guatemala!

    Theresa Foley

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Emily Breakell '17

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