Second year Dominican Volunteer Holly Sammons serves with
the Adrian Dominican Sisters, working in their Permaculture Office. DVUSA is
grateful for your service, wisdom, and compassion Holly, and we wish you the very best in future
endeavors.
 |
|
Holly on a
tour of the Capitol Building in Washington D.C.
|
I write this post with only about six weeks left as a
Dominican Volunteer. It feels as if a
two year chapter in my life is closing and yet there are many lessons,
relationships, and skills that I will take with me. My first year as a Dominican Volunteer I
worked with newly arrived refugees in Atlanta, GA. During those 11 months I learned about
resilience and hope from the clients I worked with. I thought of the hardships and loss of these
people as I dealt with my own losses. I
struggled to cope with the death of my father while being so far from everyone
and everything I knew. During the over nine
months I was in Atlanta following my father’s death I received love and support
from my Atlanta community and friends in the area. I also learned about my own strength and
power as I strove to continue to do my best each day. I gained confidence from my ministry and an
understanding of the refugee resettlement process in the U.S. I was given many opportunities to grow during
this time and did my best to take them.
Near the end of my
first year as a Dominican Volunteer I began discerning a second year of
service. I struggled to know what to do
next as grief continued to color my everyday life. After some careful thinking I decided to do a
second year as a Dominican Volunteer in Adrian, MI with the Adrian Dominican
Sisters. I wanted to continue to grow
and be of service while also working to heal myself.
Like my time in Atlanta, my time in Michigan has been filled
with many great opportunities and people.
I have been welcomed by the Adrian
Dominican Sisters and been blessed to learn about the work of a whole
congregation of amazing women religious.
I work in the Adrian Dominican Motherhouse and mostly split my time
between their Office of Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation and their
Permaculture Office. Through my work
with the Office of Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation I have been able to
travel to different events including the School of the Americas Watch
Convergence at the Border in Arizona, the UN Commission on the Status of Women,
and Ecumenical Advocacy Days in Washington D.C.
These events have opened my mind to new possibilities and ways of
thinking. I am so grateful for these
incredible learning experiences.
Through
my work with the Permaculture Office I have expanded my knowledge of
environmental issues and acquired some practical skills such as how to start
seeds and plant. I look forward to
having my own home garden someday!
Throughout my time in Michigan ,I have continued to deal
with my losses and tried to acknowledge the “progress” I have made. Some days this is easier to do than
others. I have learned that grieving is
much more complicated and messy that I ever realized when I began this journey
but have moved forward with the help of family, friends and my communities in
Atlanta and Adrian.
