CONWAY, Ark. (June 18, 2019) – Two groups of Hendrix College
students, faculty, and staff began summer break with service-learning trips to
New York City and Rwanda, where their experiences serving others led them to
learn more about themselves and the world.
Organized by the Hendrix College Office of Religious Life and
sponsored by the Miller Center for Vocation, Ethics, and Calling, service-learning
trips welcome individuals from any faith tradition or non-religious perspective.
Participating students work on projects that benefit communities experiencing
material or social disadvantages while building relationships with those they
serve. Students also spend time exploring their own values and social concerns,
beliefs and commitments, gifts and limitations through guided discussions and
journal writing.
“Service-learning trips give students an opportunity to connect
with cultures and people who hold different perspectives of the world,” said
the Rev. J.J. Whitney ’96, chaplain and director of the Office of Religious
Life for the College. “Through service that leads to significant interactions
in the community, students continue to discern their vocations, discovering how
their gifts and passions can make a difference in meeting the needs of our
time.”
The New York City trip was coordinated through Youth Service
Opportunities Project (YSOP), a Quaker organization grounded in the Quaker
values of respect, simplicity, and service with students from any faith or
belief system and those who do not ascribe to any faith. Director of student
activities Tonya Hale and biology professor Dr. J.D. Gantz led this trip, which
included students Lexie Burleson ’21, Christina Choh ’19, Brittany Chue ’21, Christine
Donakey ’21, Nina Faidley ’20, Chelsea Flowers ’21, Audrey Mutoni ’22, and Harper
Purifoy ’19. The group spent their days serving at soup kitchens, organizing
supply closets for shelters, distributing food and toiletries, and tutoring young
readers in an elementary school. Evenings and the week’s end brought
opportunities to see the sights of New York City.
“This service-learning trip ignited a new passion to serve that
I never knew was in me,” Flowers said. “Typically, as Americans, we see the
homeless as more of an object of misfortune rather than an actual person. We
tell the homeless what they need to survive in society without much concern for
providing that aid.”
Flowers embraced the change in perspective the trip brought her,
and recommends that others take advantage of similar opportunities. “I promise
you that learning things about someone’s experience will leave a lasting impact
on you and them, and it may teach you some things. Be open to that,” she said. “The
little things truly go a long way for people, and this trip helped me realize
that. I am forever grateful for it.”
The second service-learning group traveled to Gashora, a small
village in rural South Rwanda, to spend a week at Gashora Girls Academy of
Science and Technology (GGAST), a long-standing partner with Hendrix College. During
lunch, Hendrix students interacted with GGAST students and talked with them
about the U.S. college experience. In the mornings and afternoons, the group
volunteered with Dihiro Public School, which serves primary and secondary students.
They worked with teachers and students of Dihiro to strengthen English language
instruction there, and at week’s end, they watched the Dihiro English Club hold
a debate on the topic of unplanned teen pregnancy.
Before returning to the U.S., the group engaged with Rwanda’s
history of genocide and reconciliation, and took some time to explore Akagera
National Park by safari.
Dr. Peter Gess, a politics and environmental studies professor, and
Gwen Stockwell, director of ESOL and International Student Services, led the
Rwanda trip. Hendrix students Greer Ayers ’22, Aleck Bratt ’20, Sumaira Sardar
’21, and Alexandra Scott ’20 participated, and were assisted by Dr. Jennifer
Penner, a Hendrix psychology professor who spent part of her recent sabbatical teaching
at GGAST, and by Hannah Eldred
’21, Hannah Henderson ’20, and Reagan Kilgore ’20, Hendrix students completing
summer internships at GGAST.
“Our teaching topics included various aspects of grammar,
vocabulary, and literature, as well as lesson-planning,” Gess said. “We also
trained the teachers on the use of technology—the LCD projector we donated was
so happily received!”
“Rwanda is full of beautiful people whose smiles are contagious
and whose joy is infectious,” said Ayers. “I am so thankful for this experience
from the Miller Center, as it has once again allowed me to experience
cross-cultural servanthood as a way of deepening my understanding of the world
and all the beautiful things it has to offer.”
About Hendrix College
A private liberal arts college in Conway, Arkansas, Hendrix College
consistently earns recognition as one of the country’s leading liberal arts
institutions, and is featured in Colleges That Change Lives: 40 Schools
That Will Change the Way You Think About Colleges. Its academic quality and
rigor, innovation, and value have established Hendrix as a fixture in numerous
college guides, lists, and rankings. Founded in 1876, Hendrix has been
affiliated with the United Methodist Church since 1884. To learn more, visit www.hendrix.edu.