There is a poem by Bishop Pedro Casadáliga of Brazil that says:

     “At the end of the journey they will say to me: 
    Have you lived?  Have you loved? 
    And I, without saying anything,
    will open my heart full of names.

Eighteen men and women between ages 18-30 journeyed from Canada, the Dominican Republic, Mexico, Puerto Rico and the United States to San Luis Potosi, Mexico for the second annual Sacred Heart International Service Project.  A journey generally consists of traveling or moving from one place to another.  The journey from Canada or New York or the Dominican Republic to San Luis is certainly a long one.  For some, the physical journey is not so long, but moving from English to Spanish, from one culture to another for the first time can prove to be quite a trek.  Perhaps the most important journey is the one that brings us closer to humanity, our own and that of others.  As one volunteer says, “Because of my experience in Mexico I am changed and can never be the same. I am more human and now I cannot possibly be less.” 

The first weekend was devoted to orientation where volunteers learn more about one another, the program, and the culture and history of San Luis.  In an atmosphere of reflection, volunteers probed their motives and desires for spending nearly a month of service in a place many had never heard of before. After two days we moved from a reflective space to a festive one where the community christened us with mariachi, enchiladas potosinas and introductions to the current work of the area. 

The journey continued its twists and turns the next day with a workshop on the methodology of popular education, an educational technique designed by Paolo Freire to raise the consciousness of its participants and allow them to become more aware of how an individual's personal experiences are connected to larger societal concerns. Through popular education members of a community, no matter how young, are empowered to act to effect change on the problems that affect them.  Armed with this toolkit volunteers launched that leg of the journey that one can term the point of no return:  the work with the children.  The first day about 150 children burst onto the scene eager to meet their teachers and receive their yellow t-shirts.  The theme of the camp this year was “ Nuestra identidad es una fuerza y compromiso con los demás” or Our identity is a strength and commitment with others.  Volunteers were assigned in pairs to groups of children ages 3-13.  Every afternoon, over the course of three weeks volunteers and children, together, explored such themes as family, cultural identity, traditions, interculturality, diversity and community. 

For the first time the summer program was extended to include a women’s group.  In a place where women work round the clock to maintain their homes, meet the needs of their husbands and children, and sometimes work in one of the local factories for a few dollars a day there is no concept of self-care. All is given to others.  The women’s group, led by two volunteers, learned yoga, nutrition, and meditation.  They learned about one another, their joys, struggles and deepest desires.  They touched the reality that their presence in the community is one that not only brings life into being, but can also foster life at every level.  By the end the group determined its name would be:  Genesis Group.

Service is why the volunteers come; however, this alone is not sufficient.  Volunteers engage in workshops by Religious of the Sacred Heart on such topics as globalization, immigration, migration, interculurality, and the theological dimension of reality.  A few mornings a week are spent reflecting on and sharing about the experiences of each day living with the host families, sharing meals with the community, working with the children and teen group, revisiting the questions:  Why did I come?  What have I found?  What commitment do I make to blaze another path in the journey toward justice? 

The three weeks go quickly and this leg of the journey ends with a great celebration in the street where the classes of children shared what they learned not only about their own identity and community, but about each of the cultures represented among the volunteers.  A great feast where each family brought a dish typical of San Luis along with music and dancing well into the night is how the end begins.  The journey to Mexico, into the hearts and homes of a people that each time envelope the volunteers with warmth and friendship, winds down and the journey home awaits.  It is an even longer journey than the one that brought them because now they leave behind the people who have helped them to discover what it means to be truly human. They have lived, they have loved, and they have opened their hearts, and now therein reside Javier, Ana, Vianca, Gabriel, Lety, Oneida, Nicole, Maria, Ariana, Madeline, Juanita, Veronica, Miguel, Maribel, Perla, Tenisha, Barbara, Alexandra, Samuel, Mary………