Finding My True Self

In our latest blog post, Dominican Volunteer Rosanna Fiasche shares how she is discovering herself and her ministry and community.

Rosie serves as a counselor at Immaculate Conception Academy Cristo Rey High School in San Francisco California.

Hello Everyone!

Six months ago or so, I made the decision to leave my family in Chicago to travel halfway across the United States to San Francisco,California to spend a year of my life as a volunteer. Who knew that three months in, that I would fall in love with San Francisco and ICA. Before I left for San Francisco, I made a promise to myself that I was going to step out of my comfort zone and go on adventures. My first weekend, before my ministry even started, I walked all over my neighborhood from checking out the beautiful murals throughout the streets to walking all the way to Castro just to check out the Rainbow Crosswalk. I have even went hiking near the ocean with a previous DV. I have been on plenty of adventures since arriving in SF. I have never lived away from home before,so this is my first time experiencing something new and chasing my dream to serve others. I put myself first and I have not regretted one moment. With the support of my family and friends I embarked on a journey of finding my true self.

Rosie Fiasche

This year I am working at Immaculate Conception Academy, which is an all-girl Cristo Rey High School. When I graduated from college I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life but being in this community so far as confirmed that I want to work with young women. Being a Cristo Rey high school, the students go to work once or twice a week to help pay their tuition. I have many roles in ICA and one of them is chaperoning with the students every morning to their work. So I get a chance to interact with each grade level has been awesome and to be honest it makes me feel so old even though I am only 23, but I love it because they keep me in the loop with everyday society. They continually bless my life and keep me laughing throughout the day. There is this one student who I absolutely love. She always makes me laugh during commute and she is so smart. It is refreshing to see the world through her eyes. It is these moments where I appreciate my life. I may complain about waking up early every morning to commute with these girls everyday but secretly I love it because it gives me the chance to interact with the girls and get a glimpse of who they can become. My main job though at ICA is working in the guidance office. I have more of an assistant role in the office, where I run notes and do little projects for the counselors. For example I work on the bulletin boards we have (which I have to say are pretty great). Here is one of the boards, that the counselors and I worked on together in the beginning of the school year.  I also created a video about the freshwomen field trip to Holy Names University in Oakland, CA. (Check out our youtube channel to watch it- ICA Cristo REY Guidance Department) Each task I work on helps each counselor in so many ways because there is only two of them but 300 something students. Another role I took on is helping out with the food program, which does not sound so glamorous but it can be really fun to watch how the girls interact with each other and how they interact with me. The freshwomen at ICA are something else. They continually keep me on my toes, that is for sure. I do not regret one moment of choosing to work with this community. Many people may think I am crazy to want to work with high school girls, but for me this is a blessing.

In spirit of Thanksgiving, here are 10 things I am grateful for:

1.    My ICA Community

2.    For my 9 lovely Dominican Sisters who are always watching out for me and made me feel welcomed as soon as my feet hit the ground.

3.    The support of my family

4.    My fellow DV’s (Liz, Sean, Jake, and Lacey)

5.    Allison and Megan for the things they do for us

6.    For the city of San Francisco for just being its great self.

7.    My friends who continually push me to follow my dreams

8.    I am grateful for the love of God and all that he has provided for me

9.    My students who teach me something new everyday

10.  Lastly, for my mom because I know how difficult it is for her baby girl to be so far away from home. Thanks for letting me pursue this crazy dream of mine.

Happy Turkey Day,

Rosie <3

Giving Thanks by Showing Thanks!

Kate Kirbie served as a Dominican Volunteer from 2012 to 2013 at the Racine Dominican Eco-Justice Center in Racine, WI. After serving she was hired as the Assistant to the Director of the Eco-Justice Center where she continues to minister, leading environmental education programs and helping to care for the farm.

Is it just me or has November gone by fast? Maybe it is the cold quickly confronting us, making the outdoors feel more like the frigid weather after Christmas, or maybe it is me overly occupying my days with fall events. Either way, Thanksgiving is just around the corner. Thanksgiving is a time to make a point to acknowledge the relationships we have, appreciate our health and the experiences we’ve had, and maybe even acknowledge the simple blessings, like food, water, and clean air. 

On Thanksgiving, no matter if you have a large turkey for twenty family members, or spend a small meal together with few, we can easily recognize our thanks for food. Living and working at the Eco-Justice Center, I’ve grown accustomed to praying in thanksgiving for “the hands that worked to prepare and grow the food we eat.” For Thanksgiving on the farm, we gather the squash and potatoes from the root cellar, defrost beans and fruit from the freezer, open cans jarred last year, and prepare the turkey that recently left the farm. We, as do many, become closer to our food as we cook and eat our Thanksgiving meal.

But there are many gifts in our lives that we can easily overlook. The fact that the food is safe enough for us to eat is a great blessing. Most of us probably also pay little attention to the water that fills our drinking glasses. Along the same line, I only think of the cleanliness of the air I breathe when I drive by the Oak Creek coal power plant just north of Racine. Still, many others are living with the health consequences of drinking contaminated water or breathing in air pollutants.

On Thanksgiving we can make a simple verbal acknowledgment of what we are thankful for, but how do we show our thanks? For example, if we spend one day in the year thanking our family but don’t regularly call, lend an ear, or see what we can do for them, then how else do we show our appreciation? How can we show our thanks for our air, our water, or our food? Certainly not by continuing to pollute, destroy, and ignore the environment.

To mark the 10^th anniversary of the Eco-Justice Center, a small group from the community went to the Lake Michigan shoreline, just a mile away, to pick up trash. As we were approaching the site, I mentioned to the group that only two months ago fifteen high school students and I visited the same difficult-to-reach beach front and picked up loads of Styrofoam, plastic and glass. After hearing that, the group I was traveling with expected a minute amount of refuse. Instead we were greeted with a shoreline covered in trash. While some of the garbage was left by people having late night bonfires, much of the Styrofoam surely washed in from the lake after blowing from someone’s possession on land.

It’s not just this beach front. There are few places now that you can drive, bike, or walk without spotting litter. If it was just an eyesore, I wouldn’t be so worried. Many of us know that animals can get trapped in litter. When I recently watched the documentary Bag It, I was shocked to find that there are 40 times more plastic particles in the oceans than there are plankton! Plankton – the organisms that provide a crucial amount of food for fish and whales. There are more plastic particles in the oceans than plankton!

Kate (kneeling in front) gathers with volunteers to clean up Racine's shoreline.

Recently, while meeting with a group of LaSallian Volunteers to discuss “peace” in our weekly “Spiritual Literacy,” I had a realization: entropy. I’ve always compared the second law of thermodynamics to my bed room. In the morning, it is easy to throw my pajamas over my chair and leave my bed unmade. I have to use energy to tidy my room. This seems to be true with most worldly issues. It takes effort to make a peaceful world, it takes effort to educate, it takes effort to have a healthy, clean environment, and it takes effort to think of new alternatives. If we continue to live our lives saying we are thankful, but not really showing it, what will our futures look like?

The Water Conflict Chronology sites nearly 100 attacks on water or conflicts over water around the world in the last four years. These numbers are sure to grow as our population continues to increase, as we carry on polluting the environment, and as we delay reducing our unnecessary use of water. There are a lot of challenges to caring for the Earth. Many Americans feel entitled. Cheap food, cheap electricity, cheap oil, and cheap water are expectations without acknowledging the actual cost of health or the cost to clean up the land. Doing nothing and accepting what we currently have will lead to a future generation making even harder decisions.

Still there is hope. Communities are joining together to learn, educate, and find solutions. On September 21, over 300,000 people marched in New York to advocate against climate change and to promote positive action. Close to home the Racine Dominicans, like many other religious communities, are paying attention to the companies in which they are investing their finances and working to leave a lighter footprint. There is even an Eco-Justice Committee within the Dominican Alliance, which includes representatives from the Racine Dominicans, Sinsinawa Dominicans, Dominican Sisters of Springfield, Dominican Sisters of Houston, Dominican Sisters of Kenosha, and Dominican Sisters of Grand Rapids. As individuals we can work to make small changes: buy local (reducing the amount of fossil fuels used to transport food), be conscious of your water use, properly dispose of trash if items can’t be reused or recycled, reduce your use of plastics, write to politicians and support those in favor of protecting the environment.

However you celebrate Thanksgiving this year, I push you to stretch your mind. We are blessed. I personally feel blessed to have had the opportunity to serve as a Dominican Volunteer, to still have a number of sisters as close friends and mentors, and to live in a safe environment with access to organic produce and clean water. Now, this November, let’s not only give thanks, but show thanks for these many blessings.

An Open Heart Perspective

The following post was shared by by current volunteer  Julia Siwierka. She ministers with Opening Word.

If you told the 17-year old version of myself as I graduated high school that one day, I would be living with sisters in a convent, I would have thought you were crazy. In fact, if you told me this even two years ago, I would have completely disregarded it. And if you said that I would be teaching classes to immigrant women learning English, I would have certainly laughed out loud. It’s not that this is all preposterous or entirely unlikely to happen. Rather, it’s that my life never seemed to veer in this direction. I never anticipated ending up on Long Island for a year, and yet it happened. And I realize that the fact I never thought this would happen is a true blessing in disguise.

 Naturally, you could imagine my initial fears when I found out that I would be teaching classes when I had never taken an education course in my entire college career. Indeed, as a psychology/theatre major, teaching was never in my horizon as a possible career path. I remembered tutoring sixth grade students when I was a sophomore in high school and having to help students with their homework or attempt to explain a problem (this was also tutoring in math which only heightened my worries). It was an absolutely dreadful experience, I think because I was so afraid of telling the students the wrong thing. So harboring this six-year old memory, my only context for “teaching,” made me question my sanity when I agreed to take on the position as a computer and job readiness instructor with The Opening Word. In my interview with my now supervisor, I made sure she knew that I had no formal experience teaching. And yet, she iterated that she was confident in my abilities to learn and be willing to try this new field. Her confidence in me gave me confidence, and it allowed me to feel more comfortable in accepting my ministry position.

 Now I have spent four months teaching classes to our Bridge or Transition Students—these are the students who are in the process of moving on to other ESL classes, breaking out into the job market, or any other further step they may be taking. Each day presents its own challenges, but every day I feel more and more certain that this is the ministry I was supposed to be in.

 The Opening Word is an ESL literacy program that is ministered by the Dominican Sisters of Amityville. There are three sites located in different parts of Suffolk County, Long Island that teaches English to populations that are disadvantaged and underprivileged. As the years have progressed and the surrounding neighborhoods have changed, the population of students have also changed, but now the school focuses on adult women immigrants. These students come from all over the world from El Salvador to Mexico to Haiti to Peru all the way to Poland, France, Pakistan, Korea, and China. Their ages range anywhere from 18 to mid-70’s, and their previous education ranges highly as well, from women who have their Masters in their own country to those who are not literate in their own language. The Opening Word works with students based on their individual needs and progress. It gives students confidence not only to move from classroom to classroom as test scores increase, but also to go out into the world and communicate with others.

I rotate from site to site each day, teaching in total 60 students each week. As previously mentioned, I teach computer and job readiness skills to help increase their marketability when they “graduate” from the program or head into the world of employment. Some students are currently working but are seeking better jobs, some have been looking for jobs for years but are not getting the responses they are looking for, some have no experience in this country but pages’ worth in their own, and some are waiting for work until they feel 100% comfortable with their speaking abilities. Similarly, students’ experiences with computers vary too; some students are quite computer-savvy while others have never touched the computer in their homes. Some students have yet to see a computer in their houses. It’s been an interesting experience to try to pull together resources for these students to use that will be meaningful, fun, and practical in their lives (I’ve even learned a thing or two from my own research!). It can be exhausting having to do so much work outside of the classroom before and after class, but it is all worth it when a student tells me, “Oh! So that’s how you do that!”

 Every day, I’m struck with the sacrifices these women have to make in order to be here in New York at The Opening Word. They have made sacrifices in their countries and in the United States for their families, their children, their jobs, their homes, their everything to learn. And yet, these sacrifices drive them to continue to learn. Sure, every day presents its challenges for adult learners, like when their children are sick or they were asked to work extra hours on the midnight shift. But no matter what, they are still dedicated and willing to do what it takes to come to class. It’s truly inspiring.

 What has been most inspiring to me is the fact that these ladies have overcome some grossly inhumane, unjust, and downright horrifying experiences to be where they are now. Sometimes it’s amazing the things they share with me—a discussion on the usage of laptop computers can turn into a dialogue on technology through the generations and then become a talk therapy session. Naturally class sessions cannot always be these intense soul sharing times, but every now and then it becomes obvious that a student simply needs to share a part of herself even just for that moment. I’ve heard some stories that should only be in movies, where women are treated like property to be used in any way, where their children are forcibly taken from them, where gangs claim their territory, and where governments neglect to protect their citizens. And still, their spirits live and thrive on, seemingly growing stronger with each day alive. They continue to love and learn and be present to those surrounding them. These women live with a sense of openness that allows people into their lives even for a little bit of time that lets one see and really feel what their lives are like. I’ve been a witness to their living spirits and their great open hearts when they share their stories, and while my heart breaks and mends itself again with them, this has also been my greatest blessing so far. Being with these women even for this short amount of time has taught me what it really means to be a woman, a human being, an emotional creature, and for that, I am eternally thankful to each and every one of them. I’m learning to open my own heart as well to other people and new experiences, and I’ve realized that is how we are all connected: in our sharing and in our love for ourselves, our neighbors, strangers, our world, our Love. It can be scary letting other peoples’ stories enter into your heart (and it is much more terrifying to send out your story to other peoples’ hearts), but I can affirm from my own experiences that it is so very beautiful too.

 Without my students, I would not be the person I am becoming. In a place where I am supposed to be the teacher, my students have taught me infinitely more, and I will always be indebted to them.

PS. I have also spent time starting a new website for The Opening Word. Our new website will be www.openingword.org as of January 15th!

Being All There Wherever There Happens to Be

This post was originally published on Cold Oatmeal, the personal blog from of Mary Paige "MP" Bausch.  As we come into the week of thankfulness, as well as the ending the liturgical year, we wanted to re-post her thoughts.

Hey y'all, sorry it's been a while since I've updated Cold Oatmeal. The last few months have been a bit of a struggle-- certainly some ups and lots of downs. Despite some of these intense challenges so far in my personal life, ministry, and community, I can feel that I've grown since the beginning in August. I've met some great people, explored the city more, and I'm finally getting to know some of the students. 

This last Saturday, I had a wonderful time on my own exploring a beautiful San Francisco landmark-- the Golden Gate Bridge. Prior to getting there, I was in a funky bad and sad mood. Though, when the bus dropped me off that bad/sad mood somehow lifted. This huge monument that I've seen on TV (especially every episode of Full House) was right before my eyes. I was standing on it, walking on it, touching it. I could see all of San Francisco. This was so cool.. and it was a perfectly sunny afternoon. I walked across the 1.7 mile bridge to Marin County where I hiked up to a beautiful look-out spot. The view put a smile on my face. The tourists around me must have thought I was nuts-- "Who's this girl that's just sitting there smiling?" 

A few years ago, in the midst of a crazy semester of school, a mentor asked me, "MP, where do you find God in all of this?" I thought about it for a moment and replied, "God is there." I was taken back from the depth of my own answer; whoa, things just got deep. As I reflected more, I explained that I did not feel as though I was intentionally putting God at the front and center of all that I did. I was involved with this and that-- music, Res Life, college ministries, school, volunteering, and roughly 20 other things. Sure, I prayed regularly and went to mass, but didn't consciously give up everything to God-- as many of my peers testified. However, I did feel God's presence in me and in my life: God is there. Since then, it has been my mantra for my spirituality. 

With the Dominican Volunteer experience-- full-time ministry and living in intentional community with vowed religious women-- there is a lot of 'God time' in Godly places-- praying in my classes, in the chapel at evening prayer/mass with the sisters, at the young adults small group, weekly mass... I'm really racking up those prayer points! 

All of this 'God time,' though, it's made me contemplate my unfulfilled spirituality-- Why am I not feeling fulfilled? Is all of this 'God time' a true reflection of my spirituality? What am I doing wrong? For example, the faith community that I live in has a distinct way of 'doing prayer'-- liturgy of the hours, Dominican style. It's great, beautifully written and sacred, but I don't really get a whole lot of spiritual fulfillment from it. Same with the other forms of God time-- it's great, but I'm not getting a lot. Now, I know prayer shouldn't always be selfish-- what am I getting from it? I, I, I; me, me, me; take, take, take. When you pray with a community, there's the aspect of bringing something of yourself to share with others. With that, I do participate and will continue to do so. On the other hand, shouldn't I get a little something? Why does everyone else seem to be getting something, and I'm not?

Going back to my Saturday afternoon at Golden Gate Bridge... It wasn't just a good ol' touristy time for me... it felt spiritual. Sitting at the way top of that look-out, taking in the breathtaking nature-y view of the pre-sunset... I felt connected to something bigger than myself. This something that I was feeling-- that was making me feel so good, physically putting a smile on my face-- it wasn't something that could be replicated in a church or a chapel or a classroom. For the first time in a while, I really felt like I was whole-heartedly living out my spirituality. That feeling where time stops, you feel real joy, and want to share it with everyone. 

Finding God in the ordinary parts of life, mainly nature, is where I feel most connected. I love singing in the church choir at mass. Prayer with the sisters is a good wrap-up to the end of a busy day. It's wonderful to see everyone in my prayer group. I'll definitely continue to do those things, but it feels so good to have identified an environment that fosters my spiritual needs. Luckily, all I have to do is go outside.

Carla Mae Streeter, OP, writes so eloquently on spirituality. I just love her vision of spirituality-- being real and being present. That's exactly what I was feeling on Saturday.

Spirituality is real presence. It is being real, or fully human, and being really present - to myself, others, nature, the cosmos, the Divine. Said rather tritely, it is being all there wherever there happens to be. 

Carla Mae Streeter, OP

A New Branch on My Family Tree

Tory Nogle currently serves as a 6th grade teacher with Holy Family School in the St. Francis Center.

It is officially the season of being thankful. All around me, I see examples of people saying their gratitude for certain things or people. We are all challenged to think, "what am I really thankful for?"

In sixth grade, the religion curriculum is the Old Testament. This can be really tough to teach to sixth graders because the Old Testament is filled with stories of death and God getting angry. I am faced with a lot of tough questions about God's love after reading stories like Noah's Ark, where as a child it seemed so innocent.  When we read the real text we realize God was mad and he wanted to get rid of those who turned away from His love. Even though these stories can be hard to understand, we are able to pull out lessons that we can apply to our own lives. We learn about God's merciful love and the blessings He bestowed onto those who truly loved him.

Despite the challenging material and vocabulary that comes with the Old Testament, the students really love Religion class. I could chalk it up to I am the best teacher ever, but I would like to give some credit to my students as well because they are able to really think about the lessons and how we can apply them into our modern lives.

Once a week, we take our class time to have a prayer service. I am very honest with them about how difficult the Old Testament can be and how we need to take a break and experience our faith without the textbook in front of us. I have the kids sit in a circle, turn down the lights, and normally open with a reading from Psalms. I ask the students to think about something, someone, or an experience, really anything at all, that they are thankful for and then to also think about a prayer or intention they have. 

The first few times we did this in class, when we went around the room and said what or who we are thankful for, everyone's answer was the same. 

"I am thankful for my family and my friends." 

I was getting so frustrated, at first, because I thought the kids weren't really thinking deeply about this. It was an easy answer, of course, we are all thankful for our family and friends.

Then I realized this is what we all have, even when we have nothing, we have our family and our friends. When we have everything we could ask for, we still need a support system, people with laugh with, cry with, celebrate with, and even mourn with.

At the heart of life, is relationship. 

Starting new, across the country, has had its challenges. I am no exception for being thankful for my friends and family. And now, for the most part, that support system is back in the Midwest and there are times when that fact is painfully obvious.

For example, my birthday was last month. Back home, celebrating my birthday is always so much fun. My older sister's birthday is the day after mine so we always have a big family dinner and then we go shopping together. I was getting really excited for my birthday and my students were even counting down the days. The morning of my birthday came and I woke up to a phone full of texts and facebook notifications. I was overwhelmed how many people were already wishing me the happiest of birthdays. It was a little hard though to realize that I wouldn't get to give my mom or dad a big hug and my sister and I wouldn't be going on our annual birthday shopping trip.

My sadness turned to joy shortly after I got to school and the kids started arriving. One of my white boards was full of birthday messages from the students and I had received flowers, teddy bears, and even purple cupcakes from the kids!

Then, during one of my planning periods, I was sitting the conference room and there was a mom of one of my students and her math tutor working. The mom was acting so weird, very fidgety, constantly taking phone calls, and she kept saying, "This is such a wonderful day!" I was honored she thought it was awesome that it was my birthday, but she stared me down every time I got up to do something. Finally, she got up and closed the door and peaked back in and said, "you stay put!"

When I was retrieved, I walked into the kitchen to find a huge feast and a Minnie Mouse cake! I was almost in tears. The moms did this all for me and they have only known me for 2.5 months! Everyone at the center was conspiring all week just to make my birthday special.

Ever since I arrived in Redwood City, I have felt a sense of family with those I have met. When I am at home with my community, we are like a family. When I go to school, those kids and their parents have welcomed me into the St. Francis Center family. The parents ask me how I am doing and if I miss home. They tell me what is happening in their lives and they give me suggestions of things to do while I am in California.

At the center, I have become part of another family. All of the students and their parents have taken me in like they have known me for years.

I am extremely thankful for my family and friends here in Redwood City. My students really know what they are talking about. 

Ms. Nogle and her class on Halloween