Elsa is a parishioner at Mater Christi Church in Yangebup. She has had extensive experience in mission work as a young person and is currently completing a PhD in Human Rights at Curtin University. Here she writes about her most recent mission experience in Guatemala:
"...I had the opportunity to live and work with the Sisters of St. Joseph of the Apparition in Guatemala for three years. During this time, I worked with under-privileged young people from the poorest areas of Guatemala City. My involvement in the mission of the sisters soon taught me that young people, who are born into situations of extreme poverty, lack of opportunities for education and basic needs, family disintegration, where parents are either alcoholics or drug addicts, and who live in socially aggressive environments are more prone to either join youth gangs or participate in illegal behaviour in order to survive.
The journey with young people, speaking their language, and possessing a prior understanding of the culture allowed me to interact with the community members and provided me with an opportunity to engage with young people in their homes and in the parish. I soon discovered that living in violence and poverty, and denied any opportunity, young people live with little expectation that tomorrow will bring anything good. Their only sense of hope is God and their belief that God is a God of the poor who will liberate them from their suffering. In the midst of this reality, the mission of the sisters is about being a presence of God’s saving love and bearers of the Good News to these young men and women who suffer. It is a search for ways to empower young people and give them back a sense of dignity through education, support, love and understanding.
My involvement in the mission during the time I worked with the sisters, taught me that young people who lack opportunities and struggle to survive, seek for ways out of their difficulties, yet given opportunity, support and understanding are capable of engaging in decision-making processes and improving their well-being. This faith experience, not only inspired me deeply, but also awoke within me the desire to better understand the lives of young people who live in marginal areas and to see life from their perspective..."
"...I had the opportunity to live and work with the Sisters of St. Joseph of the Apparition in Guatemala for three years. During this time, I worked with under-privileged young people from the poorest areas of Guatemala City. My involvement in the mission of the sisters soon taught me that young people, who are born into situations of extreme poverty, lack of opportunities for education and basic needs, family disintegration, where parents are either alcoholics or drug addicts, and who live in socially aggressive environments are more prone to either join youth gangs or participate in illegal behaviour in order to survive.
The journey with young people, speaking their language, and possessing a prior understanding of the culture allowed me to interact with the community members and provided me with an opportunity to engage with young people in their homes and in the parish. I soon discovered that living in violence and poverty, and denied any opportunity, young people live with little expectation that tomorrow will bring anything good. Their only sense of hope is God and their belief that God is a God of the poor who will liberate them from their suffering. In the midst of this reality, the mission of the sisters is about being a presence of God’s saving love and bearers of the Good News to these young men and women who suffer. It is a search for ways to empower young people and give them back a sense of dignity through education, support, love and understanding.
My involvement in the mission during the time I worked with the sisters, taught me that young people who lack opportunities and struggle to survive, seek for ways out of their difficulties, yet given opportunity, support and understanding are capable of engaging in decision-making processes and improving their well-being. This faith experience, not only inspired me deeply, but also awoke within me the desire to better understand the lives of young people who live in marginal areas and to see life from their perspective..."
