Linfield College students left more than a newly constructed softball field and a freshly painted mural in Mexico last spring. They also left dozens of new friends and a bit of themselves

Davis, Laura

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Developing Cross-Cultural Relationships

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Linfield Magazine Volume 1 Number 3 Winter 2005 Article 11 Winter 2005 Developing Cross-Cultural Relationships Laura Davis Linfield College Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.linfield.edu/linfield_magazine Recommended Citation Davis, Laura (2005) "Developing Cross-Cultural Relationships," Linfield Magazine: Vol. 1 : No. 3 , Article 11. Available at: https://digitalcommons.linfield.edu/linfield_magazine/vol1/iss3/11 This article is brought to you for free via open access, courtesy of DigitalCommons@Linfield. For more information, please contact digitalcommons@linfield.edu. Service LearningHow long does it take to build a future? SomeLinfield College students learned it could happen in justthree days.Working tirelessly alongside a Nicaraguan namedOscar, they transformed a bare concrete foundation intothe house of Oscar’s dreams.The 17 Linfield students spent a weekend inSeptember building houses for Habitat for Humanity inSan Ramón, Costa Rica, as part of the Linfield semesterabroad program. Based at the Universidad de Costa Ricain San José, the program provides opportunities to learnabout the country’s culture, history and traditions throughclass work, field trips and community service projects.“When one of the Habitat coordinators askedwhether anyone had anything to say about what hadbeen accomplished in the three days, Oscar could noteven get a word out, because his eyes had welled upwith so many tears,” said Lisa Anderson ‘06 of Salem.“The tiny Habitat houses that these people receive aremore than most of them could have ever dreamed of.”The weekend trip gave the Linfield students thechance to roll up their sleeves and work side-by-sidewith locals, an important element in Linfield study-abroad experiences.“We believe in service learning and volunteerwork,” said Mayra Herra, director of the Linfield semes-ter program in Costa Rica. “In the past, students havedeveloped projects in small groups or individually, butthis year we decided to work as a whole team, makingthe volunteer work more effective.”Prior to the weekend, students spent two weekslearning construction vocabulary, such as carretilla(wheelbarrow) and pala (shovel), and preparing fortheir tasks in San Ramón, a semi-rural town with apopulation of over 33,000. Rebekah Jordan ‘07 of Tigard described it as acommunity “nestled between rolling green hills andsprawling farmlands, where the air is clean and fresh andthere are no stoplights on the wide roads.”The work began as soon as the students entered SanRamón. A tour of other Habitat houses gave them theirfirst chance to interact with the local community.“It was special to see all of the children and petshappily running around (the Habitat houses),” saidKirsten Taylor ‘06 of Seattle. “I knew that their lives hadbeen touched by volunteers like us.”The students assembled rebar, laid concrete blocks,shoveled rocks and made cement and mortar in aunique sifting process. They worked alongside thehomeowners, who applied their own sweat equity. The days were tough with extreme weather condi-tions, ranging from drenching rain to scorching sun andhigh humidity. But as the weekend progressed, studentsbegan to notice changes in themselves and the group.“The work was hard and demanding, but we werealways sad to see a day of work come to an end,” said EliseBooth ‘05 of Genesee, Idaho. “We took pride in our workand what we accomplished in our days on the job.”Booth and her classmates were deeply moved by theexperience. She said the opportunity to form personalbonds with the Costa Ricans was life changing.“I came away with a satisfaction at having been apart of something bigger and more important than myown little world, “ Jordan said. “It felt so right to expendenergy on something that would bring me no visiblebenefit, but the profit I gained was in the hope-filledeyes of the owner of the house as we worked side-by-side and he watched his future come together.”Every year a new group of Linfield students willventure to Costa Rica in late summer. They will alsoperform acts of community service, maybe similar,maybe different. Although the names, faces and sceneswill change, Oscar and his neighbors will never forgetthe hard work of those 17 students. Nor will theLinfield students forget the experiences and lessons ofthose three days.As Jordan put it, “What we did feels better than anyday spent on a beach.”– Laura Graham ’07Helping build communitiesLinfield College students left more than a newlyconstructed softball field and a freshly painted mural inMexico last spring.They also left dozens of new friends and a bit ofthemselves.The 11 students, who studied in Oaxaca for thesemester, spent three weeks of service learning atPimpollo orphanage, in the southernmost part ofMexico. There they drew upon their own skills andinterests to help disadvantaged children. They painted amural, built a softball field, and taught swimming les-sons, English classes and kitchen hygiene.The three-week experience went beyond examin-ing cross-cultural issues and strengthening Spanish lan-guage skills, according to Tom Love, Linfield professor ofanthropology, who directed the program. “It was really about developing relationships,” hesaid. “These types of experiences build character anddevelop an attitude of citizenship, mutual respect, criti-cal self-reflection and responsibility.”Mary Doyle ’06, a studio art and political sciencemajor, painted a mural based on more than 70 drawingscreated by the children. The result was a sign for theorphanage incorporating flowers and a beach scene,with the kids’ blue hand prints creating ocean waves.“Painting is a creative outlet that encourages kids tobe themselves as opposed to their economic circum-stances,” said Doyle. At the orphanage, Linfield studentscame face-to-face with issues of poverty,domestic violence, child abuse andretardation. The children’s need forattention was palpable, Love said.“You’re instantly mobbed bykids who come up and hug you,”he added. “And they care for eachother. You offer one a piece of candy and he makes sureevery kid has a piece of it. It’s very humbling and itmakes you deeply question what’s important.”Erica Crossman ’05, Kim McGough ’05 and EmilyPierce ’05 constructed a softball field for the children.Crossman still remembers the smiles on the kids’ faceswhen she and the other Linfield students arrived each day. “As soon as the kids saw us, they would run to helpus,” said Crossman, a sociology major. “It was incrediblyhumbling to see how little they had and hear their sto-ries of what they’d been through.”Rachyl Stupor ’06, was particularly drawn toAuterilli, a 17-year-old who wanted to learn Englishand attend college.“That was surprising to me to find a girl living outin the middle of nowhere that had the same aspirationsI do,” Stupor said.More than anything, the experience showed Stuporhow privileged she is as a United States citizen.She’s now more aware of how people usetheir resources and how it affects othersaround the world.“I’ve never had to endurehardship,” she said. “Some of thekids had very difficult lives beforethey came to the orphanage. It washard to face that, but it was anincredible experience.”– Laura DavisKirsten Taylor ‘06, left, and Meredith Berthot ‘06 were two of 17 Linfield students whohelped construct a Habitat for Humanity house in San Ramon, Costa Rica, as part oftheir semester abroad experience. 1 4  -  L I N F I E L D  M A G A Z I N EDeveloping cross-cultural relationshipsW I N T E R  2 0 0 5 -   1 5Emily Pierce ‘05 playing with a child. Linfield students, from left, Mary Doyle ‘06, Veronica Walker ‘05 and Vanessa Patterson‘06, help children add handprints to a mural at the Pimpollo orphanage.

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