L.O.V.E. trip participants in El Paso in the Spring of 2023.
JUBILEE AGUILAR/COURTESY.
By Adrianne Hutto, Senior Writer
Manhattan College students traveled to Pachuca, Mexico this month in conjunction with CMSA and the L.O.V.E. program for an immersion trip and the opportunity to learn about Catholic social teaching and justice issues in the community.
Lasallian Outreach Volunteer Experience (L.O.V.E.) hosts several trips a semester, open to all students interested in engaging in service and advocacy in marginalized communities. In March, the program is hosting a trip to El Cercado in the Dominican Republic and a trip to Chicago in May.
Jubilee Aguilar, Manhattan College’s campus minister and CMSA officer, explains that in past years the L.O.V.E. program has been successful at MC in taking students on trips all around the world.
For the trip to Mexico in January, the students traveled to a Lasallian affiliated university in Pachuca. There, they spent time getting to know the culture in the area.
From there, the group went to a migrant house in Pachuca which is used as a waypoint for immigrants traveling on “The Beast,” a train that runs from Southern Mexico all the way to the border. As people migrate they will attempt to hop on the train, as it is harder for large families to walk the route.
This journey can last from five to seven months. The shelter is positioned in a spot where the train slows down, therefore it is a popular area for migrants to hop on and off the train, giving them a safe space to eat, change, bathe and rest.
Michelle Bell, director of the masters in family therapy program at MC and a volunteer of the NGO committee on migration at the United Nations, attended the trip along with the students in the L.O.V.E. program.
“It most certainly was very humbling,” Bell said. “It is a strong reminder of the blessings and the luxuries that we have here and the things that we take for granted and being grateful for what we have and being empathetic when dealing with others and the importance of understanding everybody’s journey is different.”
Litzy Rincon Robles is a senior psychology major with a double minor in women and gender studies and peace studies. Rincon Robles is a CMSA intern and the student leader for the L.O.V.E. trip to Pachuca. Last semester, she attended a trip to El Paso, which centered on the topic of immigration.
“This trip was sort of to piggyback off of that trip, due to them both talking about immigration, but just in different countries,” Rincon Robles said. “Learning about immigration in Mexico, how it differs from the United States and to get a first-hand account of why certain people emigrate.”
Rincon Robles explains that she was given the opportunity to walk the tracks of the people who were traveling along them.
“We got to hear different stories, learn more about immigration through their end– those who were willing to talk to us or wanted to share their story,” Rincon Robles said.
An important aspect of the L.O.V.E. trip is listening to the stories of the marginalized community and coming back to the college to share these stories with others. This helps to spread awareness and knowledge about the conditions and experiences of these individuals.
Aguilar reflects on the trip in the Spring to El Paso, where attendees were able to touch the border fence in Nevada. The people near the other side of the border in Mexico live in huts made of rundown buildings and garbage.
Aguilar spoke about how their contacts would bring diapers and juice boxes for the children when they visited this community and were able to translate so the students were able to hear their stories.
“There were a lot of different stories,” Aguilar said. “And I was like, ‘Wow. I can’t imagine living in those conditions’. It made me think about how grateful I am to have grown up on a different side. But also, ‘how can we help those people?’.”
Rincon Robles recalls one morning of the trip when she and the others were cleaning and she had gone outside to check who needed breakfast.
“Seeing that they all left to go on ‘The Beast’ and [I saw] a teddy bear of one of the kids on the ground,” Rincon Robles said. “Because when you’re going on ‘The Beast,’ you have to be able to hold on to it. So seeing that teddy bear on the ground and the little piece of home left behind at the shelter was impactful for me.”
Reflecting back on her experience with the trip to Pachuca, Bell’s belief in the importance of service in education is reinforced.
“I would wish every student to have the opportunity to travel and serve and to understand or have an experience where they can try to learn to understand the perspective of another,” Bell said. “I think being able to see through the eyes of someone else is a wonderful gift and I think the importance of being able to understand the perspective of others is a really important part of education.”
Once students return to campus, CMSA and the L.O.V.E. program hosts a “Slice of Social Justice” event, which gives students the opportunity to talk about social justice topics and share their experiences and what they learned on the L.O.V.E. trip.
While students who participate in the trips are not required to be Catholic, Aguilar notes the benefit of leaning on the Lasallian faith for guidance.
“One of the pillars of the Lasallian faith is respect for all people, inclusivity and diversity,” Aguilar said. “So I try to tell my students when they go on each trip to see it as humility for all people and respect for all people. I see that person and they have a little piece of God in them.”
JUBILEE AGUILAR/COURTESY.