2017 Vocare Reflections

This week we share how our sponsored high school, Divine Savior Holy Angels (DSHA) instills the Salvatorian Mission. All members of the senior class take part in a two-week initiative serving people with a variety of needs in all corners of the local community. Read excerpts from reflections written by a DSHA senior after her two-week VOCARE service experience.

Noor B. – St. Charles Borromeo School

One thing I have been able to do is provide a model of diversity and teach about my faith amid the negative connotations of Islam. One of my K4 students noticed I wasn’t reciting the prayer before meal time, and that I didn’t do the sign of the cross. He asked why I didn’t do the prayer, and I responded that I wasn’t Catholic and didn’t know the prayer, but that I said ‘Amen.’ I told him I was Muslim. He told me that his mom told him that Muslims were bad. I said, ‘Well, am I bad?’ He responded that no, he liked me a lot, we were friends, and I was cool. I told him, ‘Well that’s what Muslims are like!’

When it comes down to it, I am very limited in what I can do for these children. I can’t tell the 4-year-old’s parents that what they tell their child about Muslims teaches him to hate good people.  I can’t teach a mom how to care for her first-grader who sought attention from one of my fellow VOCARE volunteers and called her mommy. I can’t help B. with severe learning disabilities suddenly become number one in the class. But what I can do is love them.

Love is the most valuable thing I can give to kids at St. Charles, and it is one of the only things I have a never-ending supply of. I can’t wait to go back.

Lily P. – Goodwill Industries SE Wisconsin

I was pleased to be placed at Goodwill because my favorite type of service is working with individuals with special needs. The amazing people at Goodwill taught me the power of kindness.

Because of Goodwill, “thank you” takes on a whole new meaning. When I tied a shoe or comforted someone who was crying, a “thank you” always followed, filling me with humility and gratitude. At Goodwill, kindness comes in abundance. I will always carry in my heart the sparkly souls I met there, and their message of kindness will remind me to emulate their examples. I will never forget J.’s compliments, P.’s jokes, and D.’s smile and the kindness freely given to me at Goodwill. Thank you DSHA and Goodwill Industries, for stretching my soul and filling it with goodness.

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