Center for Public Service: Gettysburg College

Hello from the distant land of Gettysburg, PA!
 
After four long weeks apart, it is great to finally be underway with our summer internships here in Gettysburg. The Heston House is bustling with activity and we are all eagerly diving right in to our work with our wonderful partner agencies. Interestingly, although we won't face as much of a cultural adjustment as many of our friends abroad, we are all beginning to see a slightly different side of life in Gettysburg, one that is simply (and sadly) not part of the bubble of Gettysburg College.
 
Our first week began with a two-day orientation (yes, another one) to bring us together and allow us to focus in more closely on Gettysburg the community, its history, and our own personal story that brought us here. It served as an excellent reminder of the causes and conditions that have led us to the many challenges we face in the present, while providing us with a firm foundation of awareness as we explore what it means to engage in just and sustainable community development.
 
As I reflect back on this first week, I am more and more convinced that this is where I need to be this summer. Even though living in small-town Gettysburg does not evoke the same excitement as the exotic unknown of distant lands, I am beginning to discover that there is quite a lot still to be explored here, both tangibly (the physical landscape) and intangibly (ideas, stories, and human relationships). I am eager to use this summer to firmly situate myself in this community so that I am not just another Gettysburg College student who feels no connection to this place or its people; I came here to grow not just in mind, but in hand and heart as well. I know that the work I do this summer will probably only touch a handful of people and will not seem very significant in the grand scheme of things; it is difficult to take such tiny steps in the face of such overwhelming challenges (racism, ageism, poverty, hunger, land, health, and waste, to name a few). But as my man Gandhi once said:
 
"Whatever you do will be insignificant, but it is very important that you do it."
 
I will leave you with that thought as I think it sums up nicely what we all understand to be the reason we are here; not to transform Gettysburg in eight weeks or less, but simply to become better people through humble service and engaged, passionate, critical, inquisitive, and incessant learning. As the future leaders of this bruised and broken world, it is the least we can do.

-Sara Tower '12

Hey everyone!
 
Getting internet has been a struggle in Ciudad Sandino, where I live in Nicaragua, so I apologize for the lateness of my post. I guess it works out okay though because now I can write about my first two days of work (no pictures though, sorry!)

The first week we got here was orientation. It was pretty interesting and included: part of the ceiling falling down in my, Amy and Christian´s room, great food that made it so I actually wanted to skip meals because I was so full, lots of heat, sun, and a huge rain storm in Managua that soaked our bags as we moved into our host families´ houses. It´s been quite the experience so far.

As far as work goes, I´m working at a place called Los Pipitos, which is a place for kids and adults with cognitive and physical disabilities. I am mostly involved with physical therapy-type rehab for the younger kids (babies-10ish). It was interesting because on my first day (yesterday) they picked out a kid and said, do therapy. I definitely don´t have more than 5 hours total of hands on practice, so I was quite shocked. I explained this to the women and they said okay. Yesterday I watched as the woman did therapy on a baby and then started helping. I observed pretty much the entire day, but I did get to help them make piñatas, which they sell to the community. Today I did actual therapy by myself (they move quick down here due to lack of helping hands), however it was more like play therapy where I have them take/pass blocks and toys to me while moving them around their arm´s range. I also got to help with core stabilization therapy, which is basically where I gently push a kid around. It´s been quite the experience for my first 2 days!

In my city we are frequently without water and/or electricity, so that has been something to get used to. The language barrier isn´t too bad, but it is definitely difficult to understand some of the accents and when people fail to speak clearly. I have learned a lot so far, and it´s only been 8 days!
I can´t wait for more to come my way!
Saludos from Ciudad Sandino, Nicaragua!

Alex Harper '11

Hi from Masaka!!!
 
We got here safe, after a very long plane rise, making three other stops in Burundi, Rwanda, and finally in Uganda. We stayed the night in the country's capitol of Kampala, which was pretty urban and very busy! The next day, we slowly made our way to Masaka, making a couple stops along the way. We made a visit to the Equator line and had lunch at a nearby café. The equator was really cool to see, as the line that runs here in Uganda is the only one that also goes through a lake- Lake Victoria. When we made it to Masaka, we settled into our hotel (Hotel Zebra) for the week of orientation that we have here. The past couple of days have been pretty laid back- we have had some general talks going through Foudation for Sustainable Development requirements, expectations, guidelines, etc. We also took a walking tour through the town of Masaka, which is small (maybe a bit bigger than Gettysburg) but still very busy with lots of people, street shops, etc.

We have also been taking Luganda lessons (which Tesia doesn't really seem to need- she has been studying and seems to know a lot!) . Luganda is the language spoken here, along with English. It is a pretty hard language, although tonal, so it is easy to pronounce once you know the letters and sounds that they make. As for food, it will take some getting used to as it is pretty different from our American food. Its pretty good though! We also met our host families and organizations, which was really nice as sort of a first impression without forcing you to stay longer. We split into groups, so I don't really know what Tesia and Sarah are doing, but Im sure you'll here all about it from them! I am really excited for mine though. My host family consists of four older college-aged boys, with a mom and a dad. The house is really nice, with a veranda porch entrance and then a living room, kitchen, dining area, bathroom, and a couple of bedrooms. There is even a tv and stereo system! J As for my organization- I totally lucked out! I am working at a local orphanage, with 25 of the cutest toddler-aged kids you have ever seen! I cant wait to work with them!

Just as a notice, the power and internet cut out here frequently, and the internet is very slow, so it may be difficult to get things posted right away! Patience is something we really have to get used to having a lot of here!

Ashely Brookes '11

Geoff and I have just finished up our first week here in San Carlos, Arizona. This first week here in Apache country has been full of learning and full of adventures. Here are a few quick facts about San Carlos: the reservation was established in 1871 by an executive order by President Grant. The lines of the reservation have been pushed back twice since then as copper and then later gold were discovered at the edge of the boundaries in order to allow for mining to take place. The government is a separate entity from the state of Arizona and is run by the Tribal Chairman Wendsler Nosie, the Vice Chairmen and eight District Council members. The main employers for the reservation are either from the tribal government or the casino, though a fair number of people are unemployed. The high unemployment is the result of various factors the first is the general lack of education. San Carlos high school has about a 40 percent graduation rate-not having a high school diploma makes it difficult to get a job anywhere. Additionally, there is limited infrastructure around San Carlos and neighboring towns of Globe and Safford are 20 and 60 miles away respectively. Driving a long ways to get anywhere seems to be just a basic part of life here. During our orientation we visited Old San Carlos the site of the Apache concentration camp. Old San Carlos is the place that the U.S. government corralled all of the different Apache peoples together simply because they spoke a common language. As you can image this was not the most humane process possible; many groups were forcibly marched there and many people were raped and killed in the process. A few years ago the tribe built a memorial overlooking these grounds to remember their history.
 
Some key themes have presented themselves over the past week as well: 1) Tribal Divisions: there seem to be a lot of divisions between people who want to hold onto a more traditional belief and lifestyle and those who wish to tend toward modernization. Often this is manifested in faith and the distinction between those who are Christian and those who are not. 2) Alcohol: My host parents explained that basically everyone here has an immediate family member who has died of cirrhosis of the liver. 3) Health: In addition to alcoholism, diabetes and obesity are the other major health concerns present in San Carlos. Eating food here over the past week has helped me to understand why this is such a problem. Frybread, a delicious but incredibly unhealthy food is a staple part of the diet here, as is soda. Access to fresh and healthy food is limited again due in part to distance. Of course these are all things that we will be interested in learning more about as we continue our summer here in San Carlos. On Monday we start work regularly. Four days a week Geoff and I will be working with the boys and girls club. One day a week I will be working with the Meals on Wheels program and Geoff will be working with Tribal construction, so I expect that there are many more adventures ahead of us.

KC Garevy-Hall '10

   

Click here to download:

Update_from_San_Carlos.zip (1566 KB)

Through a generous gift from James Heston ‘70, 16 will students engage in the work of community development in Gettysburg, Uganda, Nicaragua and San Carlos, AZ this summer as interns of the Center for Public Service's Heston Summer Program.

The Center for Public Service is also supporting six additional students implementing projects in Ethiopia, Nepal and South Africa through grants from the Karl Mattson Fund, The Davis Projects for Peace and One Laptop Per Child, respectfully.

Follow the experiences of these students as they build sustainable communities and promote social justice through partnerships, host family experiences, internships and the critical exchange of ideas.

Pictured above are the 2009 Heston Summer Interns:
First Row: Marianne Florentino, Isha Rajbhandari, Amy Fothergill, Emily Ball, Alex Harper, KC Garvery Hall
Second Row: Sara Tower, Ashley Brookes
Third Row: Geoff Horsfield, Kate Sweetland-Lambird, Sarah Angello, Gwen Brown, Hannah Kane, Olivia Haddad
Forth Row: Christian Neumann, Tesia Jankowski