Busy Wednesday posting, check out the bullets!
> ONE-affiliated group talks about personal experiences in the recent Kenyan violence.
> Heifer International reports a $42 million windfall from the Bill Gates.
>200 Chinese citizens are harmed in major cancer drug scandal with potential global impact.
> New effort brings some hope to Cairo's street children.
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
More Wed. Bullets
Difference, January part 2
Round 2...
Christmastime in New Orleans
by James McDermott
On the outside, it probably looked as though we were just painting, just scraping rust, just installing drywall, or just gutting the inside of a house. However, I found a much deeper meaning to carrying out these works of service in New Orleans. In fact, what our group really accomplished was that we helped a woman’s house look nice again, brought hope to another man who had lost everything, and brought joy to a family that otherwise had little to be joyful about. This is a realization that I had not fully grasped until I had a conversation with my fellow UD friends, a religious Sister, and students from universities in New York and Kansas, who were all visiting New Orleans for service. One of the most important lessons I learned was that we really did much more than just physical labor; we made a huge impact on the lives of others, people we don’t even know. This aspect of the New Orleans experience was the most rewarding, and it really stuck with me.
During our stay in New Orleans, we resided at the now-closed Marian Central Catholic Junior High School, a place where one could see the remnants of a waterline on the walls and windows where the floodwaters had once peaked at about 8-9 feet. Personally, this sent chills down my spine. Our “home base” for the beginning of each day of service started at the also-closed St. Raymond Catholic School, not far from Marian Central Catholic. Inside of what used to be classrooms were ladders, brooms, caulking guns, shovels, paint, screwdrivers, buckets, power saws, and other work supplies.
When some of my fellow UD students and I explored the second floor of St. Raymond’s, what we found was basically everything the school could manage to cram up there just before Hurricane Katrina struck. Classrooms were jam-packed with desks, books, photo albums, religious statues, and other school supplies. After noticing the date of August 29, 2005 written on one of the chalkboards, and seeing an “August 2005” calendar in a student’s locker, I became deeply saddened. I tried to imagine the school as a once thriving place where students could go to learn and have fun. But now its classrooms are supply rooms, and there are no little kids around any more. Being an education major, this is the last thing I would ever want to see.
In all of this trouble, I feel our group accomplished a great amount. We witnessed acts of faith, hope, and love many times from many people over the course of the trip. The locals driving past our worksites would honk their horns as their way of recognizing and thanking us for our work. At our end-of-the-day trips to Walgreens, wearing our dirt and paint-covered work clothes, people would randomly stop us and say “thank you” because they could tell we were volunteers. One of the most breathtaking moments occurred on our first day in New Orleans when the priest at St. Leo’s Catholic Church acknowledged us during mass. When he asked us where we were from, I responded “We’re from the University of Dayton in Dayton, Ohio.” Immediately the entire congregation burst into a thunderous applause that I will never forget. At that moment I truly felt welcome to New Orleans.
Throughout the entire journey, I could see how the faith and perseverance of the citizens of New Orleans was tested through all of the flooding and destruction. Many of these people have moved on to new lives in new cities. Some have returned, willing to try to build back up what once was. New Orleans is a beautiful city, a place I plan on returning to for more service soon in my life. By noticing how grateful many people were, I understand how grateful I would be if others came to my rescue in a time of need. I strongly encourage everyone to explore service possibilities and BreakOut trips. I felt that I accomplished so much more during my time off, and was blessed to have these chances to meet wonderful people and serve others. The joy of helping others has been one of the most rewarding aspects of my college life. I believe fulfilling the call to service is a direct outreach of faith. Ultimately I could see resilience and hope for New Orleans when I read a chalkboard in another St. Raymond’s classroom that said, “August 26, 2005: Today is Friday. The weather is warm. The sun is shining. God is good.”
Activist Interview – Clare Zlatic
1. How did you become active in social justice?
I was real active in high school as the president of Community Outreach, and I spent my freshman year exploring the new freedom and opportunities. My brothers had gone to UD, but I was excited to pave my own way. Freshman retreats were a part of that, and they helped me to discern the importance of faith and social action in my collegiate life. Then, the Center for Social Concern’s former director of Community Outreach, Selena Hilemon, reached out to me at the end of the year and asked me to become the leader of P.A.G.E.S (). I accepted and became very involved with prison ministry, and my involvement has evolved from there, as I have transitioned the organization’s leadership and taken on a mentorship role while becoming active with the United Way.
2. Why do you think service and student involvement clubs and organizations are important to the UD community?
Service experiences show you the needs that persist as challenges for us as servant-leaders. Prison ministry opened my eyes to the lack of social services for inmates and its impact on rehabilitation. I was nervous and anxious to meet the Montgomery County prison chaplain who I worked with, but through this experience I developed confidence in myself and formed relationships with inmates as more than criminals. They are people with hopes, dreams, and needs that are often ignored and neglected. Seeing that and connecting with them also helps me to be open in every aspect of life.
3. What on-campus event are you looking forward to the most this year and why?
I would say Martin Luther King, Jr. weekend. It is an event that helps us reflect on the progress made on race relations, but also provides an opportunity to examine what is being and still must be done to bring people together despite our differences. That weekend we promote unity and focus on the common ground upon which we all stand.
4. What can we do to get more students involved in community service?
The job of student-leaders, the Center for Social Concern, and the administration is to promote awareness of issues within social justice, and to spread the word that there is a service activity or club for everyone. Whatever their interests and no matter their schedule, there is an opportunity for each member of the UD community to serve.
5. What is one way that you think the UD community can improve in its living out of the Marianist charism and "Learn, Lead, and Serve" motto?
We need to emphasize learning first. To serve effectively, we must know who we are serving, how we will lead an effort to help, and why the problem occurs. This does not only include academic learning, as practical knowledge of societal problems is also needed. We need to make sure that our servant-leaders are educated and informed in their topic, and better integrate learning and awareness into well-attended events. It is not acceptable for awareness weeks to be poorly attended while action-oriented events draw crowds but could do more to enhance understanding.
The New Face of HIV
by Tyler Andrew TerMeer
I think that at some point in each of our lives we make the realization that we aren’t as invincible as we once had thought in our youth. This is a hard realization to make, but a barrier that must be broken at some point in our journey to adulthood. For some it takes years to discover, for others it’s within the blink of an eye. I’ve lived for 25 years without knowing a world devoid of HIV for even a moment of that time, even though I wasn’t aware of its reality until my diagnosis almost four years ago.
I come from “The New Face of HIV.”
Today's young people are the “AIDS Generation.” While millions have died, the HIV/AIDS epidemic among young people remains largely invisible to adults and to young people themselves. As part of “The New Face of HIV,” I am fortunate to be living in a time in this epidemic where my diagnosis was not given to me as a death sentence, but as a new reality and a new responsibility to manage the HIV Virus in my life. I come from the “AIDS Generation,” a generation that doesn’t remember the realities of the early days of the epidemic where Gay Activists and Hemophiliacs fought together for their rights and for their lives. This new generation lives in a different world that is silent about the Virus. HIV is a vocabulary word in their Health course if they are lucky enough to be taught about sexually transmitted diseases and their realities. To many, HIV is not something that is happening within their communities and could never impact their world.
I was diagnosed HIV-positive at the age of 21 and since that time have begun to immerse myself into the epidemic. I considered myself an educated person, I went to a nice school, and was on track to graduate with my college degree, but why was I so blinded to the realities of this epidemic? Where was society? Who was to be held accountable for my lack of knowledge surrounding HIV/AIDS?
I quickly became pro-active and began my research. I was utterly shocked at how much I had not been taught about this disease, but even more terrified of the stigma I began to encounter as I spoke passionately about what I was learning amongst my friends.
Of the over 60 million people who have been infected with HIV in the past 20 years, about half became infected between the ages of 15 and 24. Today, nearly 12 million young people are living with HIV/AIDS. Young women are several times more likely than young men to be infected with HIV. Such statistics underscore the urgent need to address HIV/AIDS among young people.
I believe that stopping HIV/AIDS requires comprehensive strategies that focus on young adults. With half of new infection being amongst my peers, those of us under the age of 25, I’m deeply concerned about the future of this epidemic. I have great respect for the early years of this disease and those who have fought so hard, but the time has come to grasp the reality that time has passed and we are facing a whole new generation of this pandemic. With this development has come the emergence of a generation gap in the HIV/AIDS community. The long-time survivors are living with the belief that they were infected in a time where they had no warning, no education or knowledge of this disease, and that the youth of today should have known the reality of the epidemic. This gap must be bridged so that we speak with one voice to empower other young HIV-positive persons.
For the last three years I have been working as the Director of Programming at the Ohio AIDS Coalition, a non-profit organization providing education, leadership training, advocacy, and support for people living with HIV/AIDS. I feel that the work we do and the lives we impact only empowers me more to travel around the state as well as nationally to share my own experiences of living with HIV as a young adult and to address the stigma, treatment, and barriers that are often associated with HIV/AIDS.
I come from “The New Face of HIV,” and I feel by using my voice and personal story with HIV to educate and to advocate I am able to bring a “Social Vaccine” to Ohio communities. My fear is that down the road our children or grandchildren will be sitting in their history classes reading that small paragraph about what was once the Great AIDS Epidemic and they will be ashamed of how long it took us to stop it in its tracks. Growing up we hear that” knowledge is power,” but I believe that knowledge is only that, unless we take action with what we have learned. We have had the power to stop this Epidemic for many years and that is the power of education, prevention, and access to care and treatment for ALL those who need it.
Now is the time to act. Now you have the knowledge. Now, I ask, what are we going to do with it?
Difference, January part 1
Here it is!
To Give and Sacrifice for Others: A Year of Service
by Greg Calhoun
We all know how to give gifts; many of us are privileged to have received them as well over the holiday season. If you are Christian, you recently celebrated God’s gift of his Son in Jesus. We all, whatever our faith tradition, have in common a different gift. Whether you interpret it as a divine gift or a natural process, we all share in the gift of time on this planet. As students, faculty, and staff at a university that charges us to learn lead, and serve, we know what it means to use our time well, whether in pursuit of an education, in the service of others, or in the providing of essential needs for those who depend on us. In a New Year of unseen opportunities and potential for growth, now is a perfect time to explore the phenomenon of the year of service as we decide how to spend our time after moving on from the University of Dayton. This is especially true for seniors contemplating what to do after graduation, as most programs require an application including recommendations and personal essays to be completed in your final semester. Many UD students have chosen to give back to the community through a post-graduate year of service, but it is important for those reflecting on this commitment to know what they are actually doing and why others have deemed it a worthwhile and fulfilling commitment.
Students give many different reasons for joining year of service programs. Many hope to grow in their understanding of the world or in their personal faith. Some have learned about injustice and human rights abuse during their college experience and want to do their part to right society’s wrongs. Others value community and believe that a year of service will be a mutually beneficial experience, and one that meets others’ needs while transforming the servant into an active and concerned citizen ready to make an impact in any community. Still others simply are not yet interested in a regular job or pursuing further education. The shared trait of these divergent groups is the desire to help out other people, especially those with the greatest needs. This means that many volunteers in these programs work as teachers in under-funded schools, as coordinators of food banks, in inner-city or rural health care institutions, in programs for individuals with disabilities, or overseas for groups trying to meet the basic needs of the poor.
There are many different groups that provide year of service opportunities, and this gives the applicant the choice between faith-based and secular programs. Groups with federal funding tend to provide housing stipends along with the freedom to choose your own living arrangements. Faith-based programs differ, but many call upon the Gospel values of simplicity and community by providing their own living arrangements. These often take shape as small intentional communities that live and serve together in simple housing with a limited budget that prioritizes need. These groups also usually use retreats as formative experiences that serve to educate volunteers and maintain strong communities. While these groups value prayer, most do not require applicants to be of any certain faith tradition. Many groups provide their own incentives or government-funded incentives, such as the Americorps grant that assists with student loans or the cost of a graduate education. Former Peace Corps workers have preference in government hiring, while the Jesuit Volunteer Corps partners with Loyola University of Chicago in a Magis program that provides tuition costs in return for an extended commitment to the organization. With many options available, a year of service is becoming an opportunity that is more and more available to recent graduates due to the ability to find a program that fits specific service interests, shares their personal beliefs, and provides the incentives needed to suspend their career for a year or more.
The University of Dayton welcomes people of diversity to share in its traditions, especially the fundamental encouragement of servant leadership grounded in the moral imperative to love. A year of service is an experience that enables young people to give back and learn how to incorporate service into their personal and professional lives. If, after your time at UD, you feel the need to go out in the world and make a difference, consider one of the many year of service opportunities. You will change the lives of others, and find yourself forever changed.
Alumni Interview - Travis Rindler
1. What are you up to these days?
Currently, I live in San Antonio, Texas. I am working through the Marianist Volunteer Program and Americorps doing a year of service. I am living alone and working with a non-profit that works primarily with foster children from 1-18 years old. I educate them about accessing their benefits and aid them in planning for their future. I teach them things like how to open a bank account and how to use public transit in Basic Life-skills courses.
2. How did UD's emphasis on social justice change you?
It helped define who I am. It is easy to think that the world is filled with amazing, caring, and compassionate people who care about everyone’s future, but it isn't the case. Yes, there are some people like that, but there are many more that are more focused on themselves or their family. UD helped instill values in me that will stay with me through all of my trials and tribulations.
3. What experience at UD made you think "we truly made a difference in the community"?
Without a doubt, it was the trip to Lubwe, Zambia. This trip changed my life forever and forever changed the lives of the locals in that village. They now have a library and an emerging economy. The children have more access to education and received items to play with during their time off. The HIV awareness celebration was unbelievable and it is crazy to think that we as students took the intitative to do this... and did it... and did it well. We and they are forever changed.
4. Who was your mentor(s) on-campus? Who should students get to know better?
The Majkas, for sure. They both teach in the sociology department. They are always there to listen to anything you have to say and are very compassionate, reasonable and understanding. Ricki Huff was also an angel. If you are truly a motivated and passionate student, she will be your best friend because she will take it upon herself to make sure that your dreams come true.
5. What is next for you?
I am thinking about buying a house in West Dayton with some friends from UD, and we are going to try and start a community there. We plan on paying off the house, and after making it nice, we’ll eventually re-sell it down the road. Our group will live with an intentional emphasis on simple living, community, personal and communal growth, and you better believe its going to be fun too.
A Voice for Darfur
by Lauren Etzkorn
On Monday, December 3, 2007, two Darfuri refugees spoke about their harrowing experiences to an engaged audience of over three hundred guests in Boll Theater.
Darfur is a region in western Sudan, the largest country in Africa. People might be familiar with the conflict in Darfur, thanks in part to celebrities such as George Clooney and Don Cheadle, who’ve done their part to expose the genocide afflicting the region over the past five years. Northern Sudan is made up of mostly Arabic-speaking Muslims, while the south is predominantly occupied by black Africans. These cultural divisions have been fueling sporadic civil wars in Sudan since 1956. However, the tensions and bloodshed reached new heights in 2003, when an Arabic militia known as the Janjaweed began to attack black African farmers in Darfur in an attempt to eradicate them from the region. Today, over 400,000 people have been killed and approximately 2.3 million Darfuris reside in internally displaced persons camps.
The Sudanese government has done little to stem the violence. In fact, it has taken measures to impede outside intervention. Non-governmental humanitarian organizations have raised the battle cry, but until recently their efforts have only been superficially supported by other countries and governments. However, things are beginning to change. Recently, a US bill has been passed that protects states’ rights to divest. This means that the states, without penalty, are legally able to withdraw investments from companies who economically fuel the Sudanese government.
The University is making its own humanitarian efforts on behalf of Darfur with the presence of UD’s brand new chapter of STAND (Students Taking Action Now: Darfur). So far this year, STAND members have organized a number of events, among them hosting Darfuri refugees from the Voices from Darfur tour—put on by the Save Darfur Coalition. Earlier in the year STAND held a Die-In, a silent protest during which students lay in Humanities Plaza to represent the lives lost in Darfur. Over thirty students participated and many others purchased STAND t-shirts which were made to raise awareness about the conflict. In addition, STAND officers met with University financial officials, who helped to make a list of the offending corporations (a large percentage of their revenue in Sudan goes to military spending) in which UD either directly, or indirectly, had investments. Subsequently, STAND put together a petition to be sent to one of the University’s mutual investment companies, urging it to withdraw its funds in said corporations. Over 300 students and faculty members signed, and top University officials have pledged their support. The group has raised nearly eight hundred dollars for its chapter alone and a few hundred more for the parent organization whose efforts focus on issues like divestment on a national level.
To learn more about STAND and the ongoing genocide in Darfur, visit www.standnow.org. To get involved with STAND on campus and be added to the contact list, email STAND@udayton.edu. STAND meets on Mondays at 7:30pm in Liberty Hall room 114.
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Wednesday Bullets
2008 is off and rolling and it is time for another edition of Wednesday Bullets! I must stress again that this blog could become a discussion and announcement sharing tool for activists at UD, so post away and contact me with what you want to see here. Now, on to the news...
- The peace talks in Northern Uganda have slowed in the last week.
- The blockade in the Gaza Strip was compromised and Palestinians crossed into Egypt for supplies.
- Putin's challenger comes under investigation for falsifying signatures to be registered as a candidate.
- An alleged human rights abuser in Darfur is appointed as an adviser to al-Bashir.
- An editorial reflecting during MLK day on the continuing fight for justice.
- Politicians eye green-collar jobs as a clean way to fight global warming and unemployment.
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