Kelly, Thomas M.

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Conversations on Jesuit Higher EducationVolume 40 Re-creating Jesuit Higher Education: TheGeneral's Challenge Article 109-1-2011Real Life in Dajabon: A Journey towards (self )KnowledgeThomas M. KellyFollow this and additional works at: http://epublications.marquette.edu/conversationsRecommended CitationKelly, Thomas M. (2011) "Real Life in Dajabon: A Journey towards (self) Knowledge," Conversations on Jesuit Higher Education: Vol.40, Article 10.Available at: http://epublications.marquette.edu/conversations/vol40/iss1/1020 ConversationsIntroductionIhad the distinct honor of hearing Fr. General AdolfoNicolás speak in Mexico City this past April. He gavean extraordinary talk focused on the challenge ofovercoming what he called the “globalization ofsuperficiality.” According to Father General, the glob-alization of superficiality has three immediate conse-quences; first, it hurts critical thinking; second itresults in superficial relationships; and third it diminishescommunities as places of real dialogue. For Fr. Nicolás,depth of thought and imagination is contrary to the global-ization of superficiality. Depth is also the first characteristicof what he referred to as the “Ignatian intellectual tradition.” For Fr. Nicolás, “Jesuit education should change us andwho our students are becoming.” The starting point for sucheducation is “the real,” and the goal is personal transforma-tion. In this approach, intellectual rigor and reflection engagelived reality. Second, there can be a rediscovery of universal-ity where students and faculty begin to realize that we are asingle humanity confronting similar challenges and prob-lems. One sign of a good university, according to Nicolás, isbeing connected in some way “internationally” and educat-ing for global citizenship. Fr. Nicolás even went so far as tosay that “every university should become a social project.”There is an approach to education here at Creightonwhich I have successfully used called a Faculty Led ProgramAbroad (FLPA). I believe that through this model; I havecome closer to the educational ideals put forth by Fr. Nicolás.This approach is a combination of rigorous traditional aca-demic learning combined with community-based learning. Ithas added a richness and depth to student learning.Increasingly, faculty members from a variety of fields are tak-ing opportunities to travel and immerse with students as onemethod to move deeper into the Jesuit intellectual tradition.Allow me to describe a personal experience of an immersionthrough a FLPA.Ecclesiology in Context: The Church inthe Dominican RepublicA few years ago, while serving as the Academic Directorof Encuentro Dominicano, Creighton’s study abroad pro-gram in the Dominican Republic, my students had a uniqueexperience of the local church. We had been immersed in asmall mountain campo for 10 days and we were sitting in asmall chapel waiting for the commencement of Sunday Mass.After some time, a dignified, older Dominican womanentered the chapel vested in a cassock and stole. She pro-ceeded to begin the service in “the name of the Father, theSon and the Holy Spirit.” Following the Gospel, which sheREAL LIFE INDAJABONA Journey towards (self) KnowledgeBy Thomas M. Kelly Thomas M. Kelly teaches in the theology department atCreighton University.1Kelly: Real Life in Dajabon: A Journey towards (self) KnowledgePublished by e-Publications@Marquette, 2011Conversations 21read, she gave an amazing homily in crisp,clear and forceful Spanish. My students weremesmerized. Following the homily, she distrib-uted the consecrated hosts, made someannouncements and gave the final blessing. Aswe were leaving the small chapel, one of mystudents sidled over and remarked, “I thoughtwe were studying the Catholic Church here in the DominicanRepublic!” I responded, “We are.”It is one thing to study the church and its ministry in theDominican Republic through documents and lectures; it isanother to attend a liturgy presided over by a presidente deasamblea who is a female leader in a society characterizedby machismo. While this anecdote is only one instance of thebenefit of immersion education for achieving more depth ofknowledge, it is characteristic of the type of learning my stu-dents experience throughout their three weeks. Teaching Medellín on the GroundOne of the most important and challenging documentsthat any course on the church in Latin America must wrestlewith is the Second General Conference of Latin AmericanBishops at Medellín (1968). This document is extraordinaryfor its vision, its depth, its breadth, and its humility. The finaldocuments of Medellín show a church yearning to be con-structively engaged with the reality in which it exists.Students quickly learn that while the church in Latin America,from the conquest to Vatican II, largely accepted the statusquo—after Vatican II there was a decisive change. In the travel class, we first read and analyze the docu-ments of Medellín and the ecclesiology which grounds them.We then study the social analysis which forms the “see” sec-tion of each document and study how the tradition is utilizedto “judge” the reality discovered. Finally, we analyze whataction the church has taken to respond, concretely, to chal-lenges in a particular context. We follow this academicinquiry with visits to organizations created by Medellín thatcontinue to function today. And so, while in the DominicanRepublic, we travel to the border with Haiti and witness aplace called Dajabon.Border Solidarity: The Jesuit RefugeeServiceSome of the most informative moments of our travelcourse occur at the intersection of Latin American churchdocuments and the work of the Jesuits. SolidaridadFronteriza (Border Solidarity) is one such instance where aThe first thing my students see is thedesperation, the frenetic movement toget across Dajabon, Dominican Republic. Photo courtesy of Tom Kelly.2Conversations on Jesuit Higher Education, Vol. 40, Iss. 1 [2011], Art. 10http://epublications.marquette.edu/conversations/vol40/iss1/1022 ConversationsJesuit ministry works to promote the human rights ofoppressed peoples—in this case Haitian migrants—through theimplementation of the “see, judge, act” method. We begin thissection of the course with a careful social analysis of theHaitian-Dominican dynamic in both history and contemporarysociety. Students learn that social indicators like race, gender,class, and language all play a critical role in a situation whereHaitians, desperate for fresh food and other supplies, undergohumiliations to acquire what they need in order to survive. Our first stop in Dajabon is the Jesuit Refugee Service.There we receive a two hour orientation on the current situ-ation as well as the work that JRS is doing to respond to localproblems. We learn about the concreteness of human rightswork, of those who walk around on market day and docu-ment through pen, camera and video instances of rightsabuses. We learn about the work of advocacy for this mar-ginal group of people and why the Jesuits do this work. Weemphasize that the Bishops at Medellín made a clear “prefer-ential option for the poor,” and that this option is lived outthrough the work of JRS on the border with Haiti.“Market day” is one of the most chaotic, nerve-wrackingand eye-opening experiences students have during their immer-sion in the DR. We go to the bridge which separates the DRfrom Haiti and wait for the 15,000 Haitians who travel across theborder twice a week to buy vital necessities, sell whatever man-ufactured goods they can, and return without being taxed toomany times. The first thing my students see is the desperation,the frenetic movement to get across, in order to get what oneneeds and return to Haiti as soon as possible. Authorities on theDominican side sometimes indiscriminately tax people comingacross the border, often detaining Haitians and their possessionsor accepting bribes in return for passage. Haitians who choosenot to travel over the bridge swim or walk through the river sep-arating the two countries, always paying a bribe to soldiers whopatrol the banks on the Dominican side. Students experiencethe climate of fear and anxiety among the Haitians and theaggressive, at times belligerent, attitude of the Dominican bor-der authorities. Students have witnessed physical abuse as well.In the swirling chaos of the market, with small streets crowdedto overflowing with 15,000 visitors from Haiti, students have agreater appreciation for the human rights work done by JRS.They witness the fact that someone has made a concrete optionto defend marginalized peoples. They actually see this option,experience this engagement, and understand them as an out-growth of Vatican II which supports a strong church mission tothe world, especially to those most vulnerable. The evening following market day in Dajabon our classalways has a reflection on the events of the day in light of whatwe have read and learned from books. Often the most power-ful reflection during the trip occurs that evening. For the firsttime, students begin to understand that they live very privilegedlives far from the problems which much of humanity endureson a daily basis. They begin to make connections, draw con-clusions, and ask questions, all because they were put into con-tact with a reality that was not their own. What is church? Howdoes it engage the world? Why is this church so different frommy own? This is the power of immersion education. Into the CampoThe final component of our travel course is a home stayin a rural village where we learn what life is like among thepoor of the DR and what role the Church plays in that life.Our contact organization is the ILAC Mission, a DominicanMission affiliated with Creighton which has served the ruralpoor of the DR for 40 years. We connect with “health collab-orators” trained by the ILAC Mission who allow us to staywith their communities and learn about their role amongtheir people. Because the ILAC Mission serves over 100 villages, thepoint of contact with those communities, the HealthCollaborator, is an important position. They function as abridge between the needs of rural communities and the var-ious services—spiritual, health, educational, agricultural—provided by the ILAC Mission. Health Collaborators havebeen essential to our encounter with some of the DominicanRepublic’s poorest people. Without them, what we do wouldbe impossible.I hope what I have written thus far shows how our stu-dents experience personal transformation and rediscover uni-versality. What about participating in learned ministry? Theministry that students are exposed to raises questions, “Whoadvocates for the rural poor of the Dominican Republic?”“What is the role of the church in this advocacy?” “How canwe become persons of solidarity with the poor?” What stu-dents learn about the “church” through their immersion varies.In general, they see lay leadership exercised by those calledby the community to serve others. Students are amazed thathealth collaborators do not receive money, and use their ownpersonal time and resources to advocate for their fellow com-munity members. They see the Gospel adapted to the needsand concerns of people in a completely different social, polit-ical and cultural context. As they learn about the relationshipbetween faith and culture in the DR, they begin to ask ques-tions about that relationship in the U.S. For many students thedifference in liturgy, community meetings, ministry and cere-mony are new experiences which expand their understand-ings of church, ministry and social justice.ConclusionThere are many creative ways to promote the goals thatFr. Nicolás articulated in Mexico City for Jesuit HigherEducation. I believe that travel courses encourage a consider-ation of the theoretical in light of lived reality. Because of theparticipatory element of the course, students learn with a newdepth because so much more than one’s mind is engaged.Travel to another country and immersion in another realitypushes one to consider the consequences of globalization.Personal contact—not as tourists—but with real people breaksdown boundaries and teaches that universal human problemsexist which demand collaboration, solidarity—and yes, the useof one’s privilege for the benefit of others. Finally, witnessinghow the church responds to the needs of the world in a total-ly different context drives students to a more learned approachto the issues they have studied. ■3Kelly: Real Life in Dajabon: A Journey towards (self) KnowledgePublished by e-Publications@Marquette, 2011

Real Life in Dajabon: A Journey towards (self) Knowledge

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Real Life in Dajabon: A Journey towards (self) Knowledge

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