Twenty-six Loyola students and staff rang in the New Year by giving aid to Jamaican citizens. Their resolution: continue their service back home.

The students and staff participated in Loyola’s two Ignacio Volunteer programs, the Winter Experience and Christmas Camp, in Kingston, Jamaica from Dec. 27 to Jan. 6.

“Loyola offers a lot of opportunities for service, but there’s something about immersing yourself completely in a different culture,” said Edwin Madera, Ignacio Volunteer coordinator. “It opens their eyes.”

Perspective is what Tom Gillis, religious studies junior, said he gained from the program.

“(The trip) gave me a better idea of what I value in life,” Gillis said.

He participated in the Jamaican Experience service program. During the Experience, participants served poor, sick and disabled children and the elderly at homes and hospitals in Kingston, Jamaica, including the Bethlehem House.

The Bethlehem House is a home for at-risk and disabled children. These children, many of whom have been abandoned by their parents, suffer from cerebral palsy, Down syndrome, echolalia and other diseases. Volunteers help to feed, clothe and bathe the children, but the most important service is providing human affection, Gillis said.

“You pick them up. You play with them. You sometimes even hold them, as if holding them is enough,” he said.

Cynthia Morales, management and marketing senior, said she realized the value of human affection when she revisited the Bethlehem House and saw Samuel, an infant, walking. Last year, while she was an Experience volunteer, she watched another volunteer spend much of her time trying to teach Samuel to walk. Seeing Samuel walking and hearing that he’s going to school reaffirms that “affection does help the development of a child,” Morales said.

Morales returned to Kingston to serve as a team leader for Loyola’s inaugural Jamaica Winter Camp. More than 40 children in first through sixth grades participated in the first camp. Camp participants learned reading, writing and math skills and were taught arts and crafts.

“It was all about sharing quality time with these kids,” Morales said.

While the Jamaica Winter Camp is new, Loyola’s volunteer service to Jamaica is not. Loyola students have participated in the Ignacio Volunteer immersion service programs in the Caribbean for six years, according to Madera. Through these programs, Loyola students are fulfilling a Jesuit principle of “being men and women with and for others,” he said.

Morales plans to apply that principle when she returns to her home in Managua, Nicaragua.

“My main purpose will be to go back and actually do these things for the kids of my country,” Morales said. “The most important thing is really to interact with your community and to share love.”

Dwayne Fontenette can be reached at [email protected]