Savard, S.J., John

English

epublications@Marquette

Conversations on Jesuit Higher EducationVolume 42 After 50 Years: The Living Spirit of VaticanII Article 279-1-2012The Heart Feels What the Eye Sees: The Impact ofService-Immersion ProgramsJohn Savard, S.J.Follow this and additional works at: http://epublications.marquette.edu/conversationsRecommended CitationSavard, S.J., John (2012) "The Heart Feels What the Eye Sees: The Impact of Service-Immersion Programs," Conversations on JesuitHigher Education: Vol. 42, Article 27.Available at: http://epublications.marquette.edu/conversations/vol42/iss1/27Conversations 49‘It changed my life!” Many of us have heardstudents exclaim this as they return to campusfrom an international service-immersionexperience to Central America, the Caribbean,or Africa.  Yet they often have difficulty artic-ulating exactly what has changed. I havebeen coordinating service-immersion pro-grams for the past 15 years, so I focused my doctoral dis-sertation, from the School of Education at the Universityof San Francisco, toward research of the transformationthat students report through the process of an interna-tional service-immersion program.International service-immersion programs began atJesuit colleges and universities as Vatican II made socialjustice a priority, calling on the faithful to help shoulderthe heavy burden of poverty and hunger that afflictedmuch of the world. Fr. Pedro Arrupe, S.J., echoed thisfocus as he challenged Jesuit alumni in 1973 to be “menfor others,” and to work toward dismantling oppressivesocial structures. While not all viewed this challengefavorably, the order ratified this direction in Decree Fourof their 32nd General Congregation (1975) by stating,“The mission of the Society of Jesus today is the serviceof faith, of which the promotion of justice is an absoluterequirement.” It was with this background that immer-sion programs began and flourished at Jesuit collegesand universities. They were initially seen as alternativesto the traditional Spring Break in Fort Lauderdale orCancun, but they are now prominent and highly publi-cized programs at Jesuit institutions, demonstrating thecommitment to a faith that does justice.  My ResearchMy dissertation, The Impact of Immersion ProgramsUpon Undergraduate Students of Jesuit Colleges andUniversities (2010), examined how students grew inbecoming men and women with a “well-educated soli-darity.” This was a phrase Fr. Kolvenbach, S.J. coined atSanta Clara University in 2000. I found seven variablesthat described this well-educated solidarity: values, spir-ituality, compassion, social justice, cultural sensitivity,critical thinking, and sense of vocation.  Thirteen cam-pus ministries participated in my study, with 316 stu-dents completing my survey before departing for theirtrip, and once again, upon completion of the program.I took the difference between the before and afteranswers to indicate the amount of growth that studentsexperienced due to their participation in the program.Students felt strengthened to follow their own val-ues, as they responded strongly to the item, “I don’t carehow others perceive me as long as I am doing some-thing important with my life.”  After the immersion expe-rience, they felt more confident in making decisionsbased on their own passions and desires, rather thanbased on what others expected of them.  Participantsoften saw local communities making difficult choicesand helping one another.  One group of students trav-eled to Peru to work with a program delivering job train-ing to street kids.  The police tried to close down theThe Heart Feels What the Eyes SeeThe Impact of Service-Immersion ProgramsBy John Savard, S.J.“Why do people living in the U.S.and have so much feel so hopeless, and people who livethere (Lima) and have nothingfeel so grateful?”John Savard, S.J., is the rector of the Jesuit communityat The College of the Holy Cross.1Savard, S.J.: The Heart Feels What the Eye Sees: The Impact of Service-ImmersioPublished by e-Publications@Marquette, 201250 Conversationsorganization, but the organization did not give up on thekids. One student reflected, “Why do people living inthe U.S., and have so much, feel so hopeless, and peo-ple who live there (Lima), and have nothing, feel sograteful?” As our Jesuit college students experienced thestrength of communities coming together to take a standin favor of these young street vendors, they examinedtheir own values to clarify where they were passionate-ly willing to take a stand.  Students expressed growth in their sense of com-passion, with one participant stating that “the heart can-not feel what the eyes cannot see.”  This student had vis-ited a community in a poor area of Mexico that struggledto have drinking water.  There was one pipe for theentire town and the families walked a long distance tocarry water to their homes in buckets.  The studentnoted, “Where I live, water is plentiful.  I take it forgranted, but life is not like that everywhere.”  This stu-dent not only understood the problem of scarcity, butalso felt what it was like to carry those buckets and feelthe concern of the community over a potential shortage.This student explained, “I have to feel it first, then I canunderstand it.”  Students expressed growth in their sense of spiritu-ality, as seen by the strong response to the item, “I con-sider issues of faith before making important decisions.”Students recognized their positions of privilege and theriches they enjoyed as Jesuit college students. They felthumbled when, being offered food and drink upon enter-ing someone’s house, they realized it was all this familyhad.   As one participant stated, “People here (in the U.S.)have everything they want, but are so empty.  There, theyhave nothing, but are spirituallyrich.  They possessed a richnessthat cannot be found in materialthings, but rather, a faith in some-thing larger than themselves.Students’ eyes were openedto issues of social justice, aswhen they experienced thestruggle of immigrants inMexico. They spoke with manyindividuals who had attemptedto enter the U.S. numeroustimes and were sent back, andthey could feel the desperationof these hopeful immigrants.One student stated, “I’m from L.A.,and this changed the way I view immigration.”Participants recognized how U.S. foreign policy affectsthe lives of others around the world.  These studentsbegan to focus on structural changes that could have apositive impact on needy populations.  ImplicationsThese programs are costly to run; yet, they give a highvalue of return in terms of mission-based objectives ofJesuit institutions.  Upon graduation, students do not allgo to work for non-profit corporations, but many doconsider a year of post-college service with the JesuitVolunteer Corps or Teach for America.  Not all careerpaths change, but they often shift.  One student whowas interested in medicine began to think about work-ing for a time with Doctors without Borders.  Thoseinterested in business began to learn about micro-loans.Another participant who was interested in educationhelped build a library at the school where the immersiontook place.  Whether the students were attending Jesuit schoolson the west or the east coast, at small colleges or largeuniversities, they all expressed a similar impact fromtheir participation in the immersion programs.  This con-firms that the crux of the immersion is the immersionitself, giving students an opportunity to experience thepoverty and lack of resources that afflict much of theworld. The power of the immersion is rooted in theintense experience of full absorption of the lives of thepoor and marginalized.  For this reason, the internation-al service-immersion experience, sponsored by Jesuitcolleges and universities, is an important step of a life-long journey toward solidarity. ■Immersion experience Rockhurst University.2Conversations on Jesuit Higher Education, Vol. 42, Iss. 1 [2012], Art. 27http://epublications.marquette.edu/conversations/vol42/iss1/27

The Heart Feels What the Eye Sees: The Impact of Service-Immersion Programs

https://epublications.marquette.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1791&amp;context=conversations

The Heart Feels What the Eye Sees: The Impact of Service-Immersion Programs

Abstract

Similar works

Full text

Available Versions

epublications@Marquette