It's deadline day for the international program and the first round of the domestic program. As you wrap up your online packets, you may want to look ahead at the next step, the interview process.
Visit http://www.jesuitvolunteers.org/interviewing for resources to help you prepare.
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Saturday, December 24, 2011
Think Twice
by Heather Moline (Nicaragua '10)
Happy Holidays. To the Christians, Merry Christmas. I hope you find peace and comfort with people who love you, no matter the space between you. And I hope you find a few moments to welcome those who don´t have those people.
I found myself walking home from the bus in a drizzle and passed an open sewer. One of many that I´ve passed multiple times. Twenty feet long, ten feet wide, and thirty feet deep, there is room enough that a large car, let alone a small human, could easily plunge into it. Which has almost happened to me during rainy season, when torrential downpours turn streets into rivers you can´t see your feet through.
It´s hard to describe the choking odor of gathered garbage, but I´ve encountered it plenty of times in Nicaragua, and this was one of those times. Thousands of styrofoam plates, chip bags, straws, chicken bones, and soiled toilet paper floated threateningly to sea. Very slowly, like they were enjoying themselves with sneers on their greasy faces.
Managua is a big city that thrives on consumption, but it isn´t like major US cities, which hide the scars of wasteful living behind investment. That is, the reason we can afford to live the way we do, with televisions, and cars (I will never forget the embarassing moment when I told my best friend here that my family owns three cars), and plastic, and microwaves, is that we have money to not suffer the effects of them.
The majority of Nicaraguans can´t afford to do that. And since, through JVC, I´m trying to live more in tune with the majority of Nicaraguans, heck, the majority of humanity, I stood my ground outside that sewer and let it choke me for a minute.
I thought twice. I recalled that the past three days I had purchased a delicious kalala or piña or tiste fresco (Nica fruit and drinks) in a plastic bag with a plastic straw. Three bags and three straws in three days. How much will I contribute to that plastic river in a week? In a year? How much do people who live like me contribute in a year? I shuddered at the thought. But was glad for it, the second thought.
December is the craziest month for JVs in Nicaragua. The second-years leave with tears and gratitude, newbies arrive with energy and anxiety, families fly in with dumbstruck faces and suitcases packed with cookies, peanut butter, and new underwear, and I go to stay with the JVs in Belize for a week. I left the JV house today after a delicious banana-oatmeal smoothie, flying through my to-do list of people to visit, dishes to bake, emails to send, questions to ask.
Then I passed a young man rummaging through a trash river on its way to another sewer, looking for something to sell to a recycling stand so he could buy a meal. I doubt he´ll get dinner. Slow down, H, I told myself, and think twice.
That´s what I hope to do this Christmas.
Happy Holidays. To the Christians, Merry Christmas. I hope you find peace and comfort with people who love you, no matter the space between you. And I hope you find a few moments to welcome those who don´t have those people.
I found myself walking home from the bus in a drizzle and passed an open sewer. One of many that I´ve passed multiple times. Twenty feet long, ten feet wide, and thirty feet deep, there is room enough that a large car, let alone a small human, could easily plunge into it. Which has almost happened to me during rainy season, when torrential downpours turn streets into rivers you can´t see your feet through.
It´s hard to describe the choking odor of gathered garbage, but I´ve encountered it plenty of times in Nicaragua, and this was one of those times. Thousands of styrofoam plates, chip bags, straws, chicken bones, and soiled toilet paper floated threateningly to sea. Very slowly, like they were enjoying themselves with sneers on their greasy faces.
Managua is a big city that thrives on consumption, but it isn´t like major US cities, which hide the scars of wasteful living behind investment. That is, the reason we can afford to live the way we do, with televisions, and cars (I will never forget the embarassing moment when I told my best friend here that my family owns three cars), and plastic, and microwaves, is that we have money to not suffer the effects of them.
The majority of Nicaraguans can´t afford to do that. And since, through JVC, I´m trying to live more in tune with the majority of Nicaraguans, heck, the majority of humanity, I stood my ground outside that sewer and let it choke me for a minute.
I thought twice. I recalled that the past three days I had purchased a delicious kalala or piña or tiste fresco (Nica fruit and drinks) in a plastic bag with a plastic straw. Three bags and three straws in three days. How much will I contribute to that plastic river in a week? In a year? How much do people who live like me contribute in a year? I shuddered at the thought. But was glad for it, the second thought.
December is the craziest month for JVs in Nicaragua. The second-years leave with tears and gratitude, newbies arrive with energy and anxiety, families fly in with dumbstruck faces and suitcases packed with cookies, peanut butter, and new underwear, and I go to stay with the JVs in Belize for a week. I left the JV house today after a delicious banana-oatmeal smoothie, flying through my to-do list of people to visit, dishes to bake, emails to send, questions to ask.
Then I passed a young man rummaging through a trash river on its way to another sewer, looking for something to sell to a recycling stand so he could buy a meal. I doubt he´ll get dinner. Slow down, H, I told myself, and think twice.
That´s what I hope to do this Christmas.
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Help us meet a Christmas challenge
JVC needs you this Christmas!
We've been presented with a generous challenge. If we can raise $250,000 by January 31, a anonymous donor will contribute an extra $50,000 to JVC. That's $300,000 to support JVC, Jesuit Volunteers, and their work for peace and justice around the world.
You know the impact of JVC. If you're an FJV, you know the transformative experience of giving of your whole self. If you're a friend or family member, you've heard inspiring stories and seen the change in your JV. If you've hired a JV at your placement site, you know their dedication.
Help us continue to do great work. By becoming a donor, you are doing your part to ensure that JVC can continue to provide opportunities for women and men to be transformed as they work for justice in the U.S. and around the world.
Every gift brings us closer to the goal. Visit www.jesuitvolunteers.org/christmaschallenge to make your contribution today.
We've been presented with a generous challenge. If we can raise $250,000 by January 31, a anonymous donor will contribute an extra $50,000 to JVC. That's $300,000 to support JVC, Jesuit Volunteers, and their work for peace and justice around the world.
You know the impact of JVC. If you're an FJV, you know the transformative experience of giving of your whole self. If you're a friend or family member, you've heard inspiring stories and seen the change in your JV. If you've hired a JV at your placement site, you know their dedication.
Help us continue to do great work. By becoming a donor, you are doing your part to ensure that JVC can continue to provide opportunities for women and men to be transformed as they work for justice in the U.S. and around the world.
Every gift brings us closer to the goal. Visit www.jesuitvolunteers.org/christmaschallenge to make your contribution today.
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
JVC on the Today Show?
Many folks show up with signs, but not everyone gets camera time during outdoor segments of the Today Show. The Bridgeport Jesuit Volunteers were just that lucky when they visited on Black Friday.
Their sign promoted JVC to a national audience. Did you see them?
Thanks, ladies, for sharing the love!
Thursday, December 1, 2011
FJVs support death row inmates
When we say FJVs are "ruined for life," this is what we're talking about.
In October, FJV Britani Hollis (JVCNW: Tacoma) posted information about a project that she's involved with to the FJV Listserv about the Death Row Support Project, which helps match penpals for people on death row around the country.
Are you involved in a social justice project and need the energy and enthusiasm of FJVs? Share resources via:
In October, FJV Britani Hollis (JVCNW: Tacoma) posted information about a project that she's involved with to the FJV Listserv about the Death Row Support Project, which helps match penpals for people on death row around the country.
When I received my first letter from the person I was matched with, the letter he had sent requesting a pen pal, it was dated over a year ago. Wondering what the delay had been, I called the organization and found out that for every five death row inmates that requests a pen pal, there is one request "from the outside," so I told the woman who I spoke with on the phone that I would do what I could to recruit some more pen pals.Earlier this week, the people from the project sent out an e-mail update to their supporters saying that FJVs responded with overwhelming force.
In early October this year, one of our newest penpals, Britani, performed the simple act of posting an email on a listserv. One sentence in her email clearly stated one of the main purposes of DRSP: "Capital punishment is a huge justice issue, and while being a pen pal does not address an inhumane policy, it does offer some human relationship to someone who may feel really cut off."
Brittani’s email was the most effective publicity DRSP has had in a long time, and generated for us over 100 requests from people wanting to write to someone on death row. Thank you, Britani! As of this writing, we are still processing these requests; thank you for your patience if you have not yet received a pen pal request from someone on death row.Similarly, FJV Susie Roling (Chicago '03) is active Missourians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, which coordinates a penpal program just for Missouri.
Are you involved in a social justice project and need the energy and enthusiasm of FJVs? Share resources via:
FJV Listserv (for Former Jesuit Volunteers only)
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