Over Christmas break, 25 Loyola undergraduates and seven staff members took part in the Ignacio Volunteer Winter programs. 14 students and four staff members journeyed to Belize, splitting into two groups in order to hold two camps for local children. One group went to the village of San Jose and the other to Hopkins. The other group went to Kingston, Jamaica, where they served the elderly, dying and children with extreme disabilities.
“The overall purpose of the trips is to learn and to serve; I believe students leave with a great appreciation for the culture, the people and the simplicity of Belize. For many students, exposure to a culture so different from their own opens their eyes, their hearts and their minds to horizons which they may have never known before,” said Katrina Welscher, staff member for the Hopkins camp.
The experience also bonds students. “You grow a special bond with the people you go with. You’re with them for a prolonged period of time. You go down there to do service, and in the long run, you end up serving yourself as much as you serve others,” Jeffrey Ramon, religious studies junior and student volunteer on the trip, said.
The trips impact both the volunteers and the people being served. “The people of Belize remember the Ignacio Volunteers and Ignacio volunteers remember them. This past trip, one child in San Jose had on a bracelet he had made the winter before. He had never taken it off. This is a testament to how the little things really do matter. We go to Belize to learn and to serve, and we leave feeling as though the greatest service was done to us,” said Welscher.
Students that have never attended react well to the programs as well. “I think it’s a great thing. I’ve never been one but I’d really like to eventually,” said Katie McDaniel, sociology junior.
There have been multiple Jamaica and Belize volunteer programs implemented at Loyola; however, this was only the second year that students and staff have volunteered in the winter.
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