Glowing in Guatemala: a glimpse into post-grad service for SJU students

Dear CSB+SJU,

About a 140-mile drive east of Guatemala City, you’ll find the lovely city of Esquipulas. Known as Central America’s faith center, over one million pilgrims come to see El Señor de Esquipulas, also called El Cristo Negro, every year. Carved out of dark wood in 1595, the image of the Black Christ is housed in the Basílica del Señor de Esquipulas, which was completed in 1759. La Abadía de Jesucristo Crucificado, home to 25 monks, was founded to look after El Señor de Esquipulas and spiritually tend to the pilgrims that travel far to the basilica. It’s here where I’ve spent the last six months living and praying with the Benedictine monks and immersing myself in Guatemalan culture.

My BVC partner, Scott Spangler, and I were put to work immediately at Colegio San Benito, the school the monks founded decades ago. We took over four high school English classes that the previous volunteer taught.

I felt completely unqualified and unprepared for the job I was asked to do. It was a rocky start for me, not knowing anyone except for Scott, but I eventually got situated. We got to know our students more by the day and started helping the primary school English teachers with in-class activities. Since we arrived in August, only about two months before their school year ended, we needed to find something else to do during the break.

Being that Esquipulas is near the borders with El Salvador and Honduras, a few hundred migrants come through the city every week. Most come from Venezuela, others from Central and South America, and even as far as Afghanistan. I learned there is a migrant shelter down the road from the monastery and I reached out to the shelter director and began to volunteer at Casa Del Migrante San José with Scott soon after.

Most of our work here was serving dinner, opening the door to migrants and sorting donated clothes. I learned directly about the migrant experience going through the Darien Gap, the exploitations they face and the nutritional, medical and psychological needs they have. Volunteering here humanized the migration crisis even more for me.

These are mothers, fathers, grandparents, children and friends who are risking their lives to find a better place to live and prosper. The community here stepped up to make sure migrants coming through their city have the dignity they deserve as human beings.

Today we are about a month into the new school year. I teach three classes of three different grades in high school, and Scott has the same setup. We plan lessons together and support each other in teaching our 142 students. As obvious as it sounds, every student has their own unique personality, and getting to know each of them individually is fun. Some like to talk about Fuerza Regida’s new songs, why Messi is the best, and how “Shrek” is a legendary movie. When they say 60-degree weather is too cold I eagerly remind them about Minnesota winters.

With about six months more to go, I feel well-adjusted and excited about where I am and what I’m doing. Many people, especially in my family, questioned why I was doing a year of service instead of working and earning money.

I submitted my application to the BVC after years of saying I would never join and waste a year not earning money. But my call to service kept poking at me to do something for the world and not just for myself. I have zero regrets about joining the BVC and spending a year sharing my talents with others.

I am in the process of grad school applications and am unsure what my life will look like this fall. Still, I am excited to come back home and share all that I’ve learned from this once-in-a-lifetime experience.

Bennies and Johnnies reading this, I hope you’ll be inspired to do something bigger than yourself. Remember to use your privileges as college students and soon-to-be graduates for the common good. Johnnies, please consider joining the Benedictine Volunteer Corps and be part of this global experience, it’ll change your life in ways you can’t even imagine