There’s nothing quite like hanging out with children whose homes are made of corrugated tin, discovering that the only water coming out of the faucet you turn on is cold, or that the best way to bypass a language barrier is with a smile to understand people of another culture.

For many students attending Catholic high schools in the diocese, their experience in service programs this summer in Mexico was all of the above and more.

A group of 10 sophomore and junior students from Loretto High School in Sacramento traveled to Oaxaca, south central Mexico, to participate in a summer immersion program for 10 days in June.

The program, “Call and Response,” is a partnership with the Maryknoll Sisters working in ministries in Oaxaca.

Loretta Kitch, service and social justice coordinator at Loretto, accompanied the students on what she views as an extraordinary lay mission experience.

“It’s not about going in and building houses…or that we as first world people are bringing in solutions to the third world,” Kitch said. “We want to go down and realize our connections, our solidarity with the poor, and see we are instruments of God’s love.”

The students, who live in a home owned by the Maryknoll Sisters, travel by bus each day to stay with neighborhood families. Activities typically occur in the streets with the children: playing soccer, working on art projects, and just getting acquainted. Some students also have an opportunity to work with special needs children.

Kitch said that a big part of the experience for many students was awakening to the realization that while they may have made the trip “to help the poor,” the poor have much to give them.

“It came with being warmly accepted, people opening their homes to you, just not having any barriers,” she said, adding that the few Loretto students who spoke no Spanish had no problem communicating.

Students were also given ample opportunities daily for prayer and reflection.

“Many were awakened to the fact they are very blessed by their life…and hopefully go beyond that to see they have responsibility to share those blessings,” Kitch said.

Jessica Rains, a junior at Loretto, said she had never been sure what people meant when they said “God is really present in the poor.”

Then she spent time in Oaxaca with a Mexican family that included 15 members representing three generations.

“These people had nothing, but they never complained,” Rains said. “They were the most loving and caring people I ever met in my life.”

For Ali Billing, a senior, the “Call and Response” program was both an opportunity to experience a culture new to her and a spiritual awakening.

“The people were trying so hard to make their home our home. They wanted to give so much to us,” said Billing of a family whose kitchen was comprised of a table and a couple of chairs. “I got a deeper meaning of what service is all about.”

Joanne Castronovo, director of Christian service at Jesuit High School in Carmichael, has been taking students on summer foreign immersion programs to Mexico for the past 10 years.

As at Loretto, service trips to Mexico are one of several summer service options at Jesuit, available only to seniors. In Castronovo’s view, it is a choice offering participants exceptional experiences in the only Third World country bordered by the United States.

“We learn in social justice classes all about Third World countries, but this is a chance to put a face on all those theories,” she said. “We meet wonderful, hardworking, faithful people.”

Jesuit offers three summer school service options in Mexico:

• Maryknoll’s Call and Response program in Oaxaca, serving the poor, elderly, and disabled.

• Casa de Los Pobres in Tijuana, serving the poor and homeless.

• Prayer in the Home Press program, also in Tijuana, working in church construction.

Casa de Los Pobres supports the homeless and people in need. Students participating in the one-week program assist in serving meals to the homeless, make prison visitations, and serve as volunteers at a clothes closet and a medical clinic.

In the process of dispelling a lot of erroneous stereotypes about the Mexican people, Castronovo said students return with an appreciation for their deep spirituality and the closeness of families.

Steve Gunsch was among Jesuit students helping out at Casa de Los Pobres in June. While Gunsch spent much of his time serving meals to the homeless and in prison visitation, it was attending Mass in downtown Tijuana that may have been his most unforgettable experience.

“I was in awe of how much faith the people had,” he said. “The church was just packed and everyone was so respectful. Everyone was there, from little kids to very old people, and some who couldn’t walk.”

Castronovo said one of the most frequent comments heard from returning students is that the poverty is much greater than anyone anticipated. Pat Ramos, who went on the Call and Response trip to Oaxaca in May, had been on a family trip to Mexico before, but the Jesuit service experience was the real eye opener.

“I’ve really been blessed,” he said, recalling visits to homes and playing in the street with children who were lucky to have one meal a day. “You realize having a car might not be that important; it’s having three meals a day with your family.”

Thirty students from Christian Brothers High School in Sacramento lived with families in the southern Mexican city of Cuernavaca from May 28 to June 12. Tomas Capogreco, a Spanish teacher at Christian Brothers, has been coordinating summer immersion programs, open to juniors and seniors, for the past eight years.

The program, offered by Global Education, a Sacramento-based company specializing in cultural exchange programs, features students housed with families living in Cuernavaca while attending a private language school where they study five hours of Spanish curriculum daily. Meals and a variety of social activities with host families and fellow language students are also provided in the culturally diverse city.

Capogreco said that it’s an excellent opportunity to learn more about a country that is very much a part of the global economic environment.

“We’re going to be dealing with Mexico, and students should be familiar with the country, the culture, and the language spoken,” he said.

It is also, Capogreco said, a time to correct some common misconceptions.

“Mexico is our neighbor, but a lot of kids have the perception that people are riding around on burros,” he said. “It’s a Third World country, but there’s much more to it than that.”

For Sofia Gonzalez, a senior, the Christian Brothers’ summer program was her third trip to Mexico. She said she went to improve her Spanish but came away with much more.

“The family I lived with really embraced us with open arms. You really felt you were part of their family,” she said. “I was surprised that while we come from two different cultures, we share the same outlooks, morals and values.”

While in Cuernavaca, the Christian Brothers students also spent time at an orphanage, Ministeios del Amor. This community service component of the trip involved not only interactive time with the children, but a time to present gifts brought from home which were donated to the orphanage. The students also made piñatas and crafts at the language school they attended for these special children they came to know.

“Getting to know the kids at the orphanage was a highlight of trip,” said Craig Hornsby, a senior whose future plans include a return visit to Mexico. “The children just looked like they were a lot happier when we got there.”

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