Day 5

These past few days were nothing but a whirlwind of activities for our immersion group. Today, we spent the day at the Dolores Mission Parish and School, where we worked with students from the poorest parish and area in the city of Los Angeles. We learned that the Dolores Mission School, or DMS was a Catholic Charter school, which used to be run by nuns. It was such a uplifting experience to be able to work with students and to "be a little kid again" so to speak. One of the major things that have struck me as an volunteer was the ability for the students to come to school, and not having to worry about the gang violence and the general fear of being harmed right outside the school gate. What also amazed me were that the students seemed to be normal kids who wouldn't have problems at home, or other issues which would be a detriment to having a typical upbringing.

After spending a very long day at the Dolores Mission and School, we had dinner with the Jesuit Volunteer Corps, who have been working at various social agencies in the Los Angeles Area over the past 6 months. They were able to share their views on service, and the significance of serving their community. The one topic that really stood out and was emphasized during the facilitated discussion at the dinner was being able to provide self-help, or taking care of yourself before taking care of others, because you can't help others if you aren't able to deal with your own issues.

Today Culminated the longest service day that we have participated in so far this immersion, and to me this was one of the more intense service experiences. Look forward to more blogs soon!

Peace and Blessings!
Anthony Selvanathan, Chaminade University Class of 2015