Plan, be a part of the big wave of change...

      

So, my service learning and experiences ebbed and flowed as I continued along my journey into adulthood.  During college, I mostly began my professional service career by getting my undergrad in psychology and working with the domestic violence and sexual assault victims at a safe house and a crisis line.

      

 After graduation, I moved and continued my work in the public service field as I continued to work with battered women and people suffering from alcoholism and drug addiction.

       The summer of 2005, shortly after the major tsunami which took out Sri Lanka and Banda Aceh, Indonesia, I went with my mother to do relief work in Banda Ache and help rebuild a school there.  

3 Minute clip of the Tsunami: December, 2004 

This boat was I kilometer from shore.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USnTrgaPlNY 

We brought school supplies and met the children of the local school which the Medfield Middle School system had partnered with, thanks to my Mom, Margaret Mongiello, and her great heart and inspiring dedication.

We met a wonderful staff and partnered with Plan International, to help bring joy and supplies to people who had just lost everything.  It was rewarding and devastating at the same time.  Thanks Mom, for raising me to the be the person that I am and teaching me to value service.  I clearly got it from you, and wouldn't trade this quality for anything in the world. 

 

 

 

Semi-Permanente?

I had such an incredible experience that summer I had to go back.  It was a no brainer to spend the following summer participating with Amigos de Las Americas again. I quickly feel in love with my new host family in a rural village of the Dominican Republic.  The place was beautiful, the lifestyle simple, the heart big and the work hard. The house I was living in was a small modest house with four rooms. Two bedrooms, the kitchen, and the dining room/kitchen.  One bedroom for for the 3 kids and the other for the parents. When my partner and I arrived, they gave us one of the two bedrooms so we could have some privacy.  For two months, two parents and three kids shared one small room without even thinking twice.  

Generosity.  Generosity that I couldn't even fathom existed before meeting these people.  These people really did have "nothing", but they were the kindest, most generous, and loving people I had ever meet.  

Not before long we were so close to the family we had the kids room with us and had slumber parties.  One of my favorite moments, an unexpected perk between the community service building, 

water purification and latrine building projects, was my "sisters" birthday.

 Our "Dad" had gone into "town" to trade the cows and buy some supplies for the town.  He came back with a box of purple hair dye as a present.  Sure.  I was in.  No big deal, right?  I was supposed to live like the locals right?  That was part of the program appeal?!?

When no one was looking, I quickly grabbed for the box and began to scan the Spanish.  This was my second summer, but I still did not know that much Spanish...quimicos (that can't be good), morado (not helpful-the photo told me it was purple)....lots of words I couldn't' recognize, then the brass ring... it made sense... The words I read were semi-permanente.  I breathed an immediate and lightening sigh of relief.  No big deal, I thought. 24 washouts. Mom and Dad won't even know. Sign me up.  I'm in for a purple hair dying party.  Well.  What I didn't think about at the time was that I didn't have access to a shower or shampoo, and...there is a major difference in concept of time in the rural areas of Central and South America.  

Needless to say, Mom and Dad did find out.  Semi-permanente in the Dominican Republic isn't semi-permanente at all. I had purple hair for a year. I got called a witch in the Maimi airport by a little girl.  "Look, mama, it's a witch...a real witch!!!" I had to go on all my college interviews with purple hair.  Turned out to be a good thing as it was the perfect segue into the community service work that I had done the past two summers.  With purple hair, lots of service, and a dream I got into the school of my choice early admissions.

Guess which one I am...One year!

Sometimes service can be small...

So today I'm taking a momentary pause from grand acts of service and reminding myself that sometimes the small acts of service are just as important.  Sometimes life has a way of slowing you down (without sending your to a far off land without your present reality) and reminding you that service can also be lending a hand or supporting others, especially when we feel like we don't have time or don't really want to.  Listening to a friend, encouraging someone who needs some extra attention, visiting family, being patient with others, taking care of someone who's sick, or helping someone move.  Any time we do something that we are not excited to do, but our actions result in making someone else happy, we are serving, sometimes in the best way :) 

One more summer...

       So, despite the flees and many GI issues, I could not resist.  The people were so amazing.  I had only known people who had so much, everything in fact, and never seen such a generosity that I saw from these people who in my mind had "nothing".  What I realized was that they did have something, they needed more, but they had something alright.  They had love, family, friends, a sense of community, heart, and determination, passion, dedication, and a generosity and tenacity that was unmatchable.  Don't get me wrong, this community still needs a lot of help, which is why Amigos was there in the first place, but boy was I ever so wrong to think that they had "nothing".  That was my "snuburbian" upbringing getting the best of me.  I was thinking things, partly because we had so many (shout out to my mom who is a dedicated Christmas Tree Shoppe lover) but also because our society in the states seemed to focus on the tangible. 


        I had an amazing summer.  I lived, loved, suffered, formed friendships and opinions/ideas that will last forever.  But, that just wet my appetite, like a good appetizer does.  So, my journey continued.  The moment I got home I re-enrolled with Amigos and decided to head to the Dominican Republic the following summer for eight more weeks.  


        Boy was every box of fruit sold worth the trouble!

Living in a barn, with the pigs...

So, at 16 years old, the summer after my sophomore year in High School my eyes were opened and my world began to change. I spent this summer in Michoacán, Mexico participating in the Amigos De Las Americas Program.

http://www.amigoslink.org/

Like I said, I grew up in an affluent "snuburb" and never wanted for anything.  I had great parents and an overall "perfect" life.  But something was missing.  There was a hole.

Participating in the program was the first moment that the hole began to shrink.  I spent the summer in a very rural community with no running water nor electricity, living in this great families barn.  I was paired up with two other Americans, whom I did not know, and we were charged with motivating the community to improve their hygiene and public sanitation through latrine building and water purification.  It was incredible and life changing.

When the summer began, I knew no more Spanish than hola, gracias, por favor, and baño (which was not a useful word seeing as there weren't any!).  This family embraced us and loved us as if we were there own kids, their own flesh and blood.  They had "nothing" compared to us and shared more than I had ever seen.  It rocked my world and changed my view of myself and the world.  That summer I fell in love with the Spanish language, realizing that it was not a textbook, but rather amazing people, a lively culture, and an opportunity to see the world while changing myself and others.

Hace Quince Años...

Fifteen years ago my service learning began as did my personal transformation. I was lost, lonely, confused, and wanted to know why.  What was the point?  What was life for?  How could I possibly have so much, everything, more than everything, but still not be happy?  How was everyone else happier than me?  


I never really liked Spanish in school.  In fact, I remember begging and trying my powers of persuasion on both parents to get them to let me drop the class.  You know, if the first says no, go to the second one, that sort of thing.  Luckily, they both stood their ground.


I distinctly remember, being 16 years old, a sophomore in high school, and a cool teacher and college student coming to talk about this Amigos program.  She was so strong, confident, mature, funny, happy.  This college student appeared to be who I had wanted to be all these years.  So, like any other 16 year-old I went home and asked my mom to sign a form.  About 4 months later, I asked her to drive me to boston form my first official Amigos De Las Americas training.  She responds, "Why are we going to Boston?"
Aghast, I replied, "Don't you remember, I'm going to live in a barn in Mexico for the summer, you singed the form?!?" 


And so the journey began...

By accident, coincidence, or fate, I recently got called up at the last minute to chaperone the High School Service Learning trip to Peru.  At first I was sure it was just a happy accident, but now I'm sure there is a reason I was asked to lead the trip, when the original chaperone got sick.


The trip was fabulous.  The kids were great, the ruins still breathtaking, and culture and cuisine divine.  

The two days of service ignited a fire inside me that has remained dormant for years.  This trip and the local Peruvians lit my fire, and I'm hoping this blog will help spread that flame.