Moreau Center Social Justice Programs

Amber

Katie Wojda – Joint Religious Legislative Coalition

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Hello UP community!

My name is Katie Wojda and I’m a senior English and Spanish double major at UP. I’m doing my internship this summer in my home office (my room) in Saint Paul, Minnesota. I was looking for an internship where I could use my writing and research skills, and I found a great opportunity with the Joint Religious Legislative Coalition (JRLC). The JRLC is an interfaith non-profit organization that works to educate and mobilize it’s Muslim, Christian, and Jewish members throughout Minnesota to be active political citizens who advocate for human dignity and justice.

The murder of George Floyd at the beginning of the summer changed everything about what I thought my internship would be in a really powerful way. I have been working with the executive director Anne Krisnik and the program manager Mary Baumgartner on several projects, many greatly driven by the push to do anti-racist work in our organization. I’ve spent some time getting to know the JRLC, doing grant research and writing, interviewing and writing a feature piece for the website, and keeping up with the local news in a way I never have before. I’ve attended multiple virtual town hall meetings and hearings to keep track of the types of things legislators are planning to do to respond to the righteous outcry of Minnesotans.

Minnesota State Capitol

Some of these town hall meetings and hearings were hopeful, but they were more often eye-opening events for me to the incredible amount of ignorance that exists both within myself and in our society. Although the JRLC has several “position papers” (documents for our members to refer to about our positions on certain issues as people of faith), Anne realized we lack one that specifically addresses racism in Minnesota.

My most recent project has been working on this new position paper, which will essentially bring together the voices of activists and educators on the history of racism in Minnesota, with a list of resources for our members to continue to educate themselves and advocate for systemic change. At the same time, it is an argument for why we, as members of the Abrahamic religions, have an obligation to do this work.

I’ve absolutely loved working with the JRLC! I’m excited to bring these new skills and perspectives into every facet of my life.

Maggie Loft – Girls Inc. of the Pacific Northwest

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This summer I have been interning at Girls Inc. of the Pacific Northwest. Girls Inc. is a nonprofit organization that inspires all girls to be strong, smart, and bold through direct service and advocacy. Normally, Girls Inc. offers after school programming, summer camps, and mentorship that in a variety of areas including STEM, media literacy, economic literacy, adolescent health, and violence prevention, to name a few. Due to the pandemic Girls Inc. has not been able to do as much direct service and in-person programming, however they are offering many online resources, a virtual STEM summer camp, and are ramping up their advocacy work.

While I originally hoped to be doing direct service and mentorship at a Girls Inc. site, my internship this summer is fully virtual and I have been doing development and revision of their curriculum. At first, I was a little disappointed that I would not be able to interact with youth directly. However, as I am nearing the end of my internship I am excited that my additions and updates to their curriculum will hopefully make a positive impact on Girls Inc. programming for years to come. Curriculum development is a task that has usually been pushed to the back burner, and some of it not been updated in over twenty years. The current members of Girls Inc. are facing a much different world than girls that this curriculum was originally intended for. With more updated material, future Girls Inc. mentors will be able to lead programs and Girls Groups that are much more relevant to the lives of their students.

I started out the summer making a brand new College Readiness curriculum. I had a lot of fun being able to draw upon my experience working in UP Admissions for the past three years and my time student teaching in a College Prep seminar at our local high school. The college search and application process is intimidating and becomes even more so if you are the first in your family to go to college. I am proud that I got to put together a guide to help Girls Inc. members navigate the college search, application process, financial aid, picking a major, and life as a college student.

My current project has been the revision of one of the core Girls Group topics, a curriculum called “Allies in Action.” The way we think about the concept of allyship has changed dramatically in the decades since this curriculum was written, and has even changed rapidly within the past few months. While the old curriculum was a great guide to being a good friend, the Girls Inc. members today want to know how they can enact change and make the world a better place. The new Allies in Action curriculum will help guide them through navigating identity, privilege and marginalization, solidarity, advocacy, authentic allyship, and healthy communication.

I am grateful to have the chance to be part of an organization with such a strong sense of female empowerment and that I have been able to be a small part of the girls’ journeys towards furthering their education, pursuing their dreams, and making the world a better place.

Alannah Clay – Because People Matter

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Hello everyone! My name is Alannah Clay, and I am a rising senior, double majoring in Social Work and Psychology. This summer, I am interning with an organization called Because People Matter (BPM) located in Portland, Oregon. BPM’s mission statement is “Loving People Because People Matter.” How fitting of a statement during this unique time for all of us.

BPM is an organization that exists to develop and sustain relational environments that create movement within groups and individuals to demonstrate love and generosity lived out in the world. BPM creates relational environments that provide Relief, Mobilization, and Transformation. The core value they believe in is that people should feel known, that they matter, and that they are loved. BPM has three types of humanitarian services: Night Strike, Transformation Trips, and BTown Kids.

  • Night Strike is a unique opportunity for people to spend time under the Burnside Bridge every Thursday night to love people because people matter; especially our homeless community.
  • Transformation Trips are an opportunity for people around the United States to come and partner with BPM to do service, peel back layers of stereotypes, judgements and fear as people learn more about Portland’s most marginalized population and how we can break down the barriers between us.
  • BTown Kids is a space where children and families develop community and capacity through encouragement, relationship, and fun.

All of these humanitarian services are important for our Portland community, but due to the coronavirus pandemic a lot of these services had to be put on a hold and had to be changed in a creative manner.

Due to circumstances, I had to return home to Salt Lake City, Utah, and with that BPM and I had to change my internship from being in person to remote. What that entailed for me was I still had the incredible opportunity to serve my community at home through various non-profit organizations that work with the homeless community; like Volunteers of America, Utah Food Bank, Utah Community Actions, and Salt Lake City Mission. These non-profit organizations worked hard to still provide food, housing, clothing, hygiene products and various materials that people need during this unprecedented time. These organizations showed that they love people because they saw that people matter. Through safety and various precautions, they were able to think creatively on how to still involve volunteers in their help of making sure that those in the most marginalized communities are still getting what they need.

Through BPM, I was able to be involved in their leadership development through our zoom staff meetings, as they believe that their interns should come in and leave with a new sense of what it means to be a leader. I could go on and on of what I learned, but one big take away I got from my training was how to be a creator. Being a creator means always remembering to be playful even when times are tough. That not everything will go as planned, and we need to come up with creative ways to still serve our communities. BPM did this through partnering with other local non-profit organizations to pass out sack lunches, hygiene products, and masks to those in the most marginalized community.

I am very grateful and fortunate to have had the opportunity to intern with BPM and my local non-profit organizations in Utah, as these are hard times for everyone but when we come together and serve our communities we are reminding ourselves that we are loving people because people matter.

Safari Time

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After its long anticipated arrival, the safari arrived. While it meant it was one of the coolest experiences of the trip, it also meant it was wrapping up.

We got to indulge on one of the main tourist attractions of Tanzania and it didn’t disappoint. We started our safari (which in Kiswahili means “journey”) in Tarangire. When we arrived at the starting point we were greeted by these cute little monkeys that seemed very accustomed to the presence of humans yet still weary of them. The first warning our driver gave us before we got out of the car was to close our windows because; “they’re very sharp and fast. If they see snacks in the car they will get them.” Taking a quick bathroom break, walking around the area and just letting it sink in that we were possibly about to encounter the big 5 was a lot to digest and take in. You could feel the excitement in the atmosphere and the small encounter with the monkeys was just a small taste of what was about to come. A little into the drive we encountered a herd of “tembo” (elephants) enjoying their lunch. They were about about 15 ft from the car and were completely unfazed by our noisy Land Rovers and our excited squeals. One of the highlights of the day was when we finally got to see, mostly hear, some female “simbas” (lions) hunt and kill a pumba (warthog). While it was hard to witness, as the Lion King would say “it’s the circle of life.”

We continued to see more animals from Twigas (giraffes) to swala (Impalas) and colorful birds, when we took what we thought would be an uneventful lunch break our guides warning about the monkeys, like a prophecy, came true. When we got to our picnic site, we noticed how persistent and fearless the little guys were. How, regardless of us shooing them away they really wouldn’t flinch until our guides intervened. By the end of lunch we thought we had outsmarted them until our group got distracted and in a matter of seconds a chocolate bar and some biscuits were stolen. While that commotion was going on I (Paula) looked away from my lunch to see what was happening and when I turned back there was a monkey sitting in front of me making direct eye contact. Thinking he could get some dessert too, when I screamed at him he didn’t even flinch so I packed what I could and ran. When I looked back, there was a chocolate wrapper on the ground and one happy monkey.

After enjoying the sights of more animals, we headed to our campsite for the night and got to bed for an early morning. We set out for the Ngorongoro crater before dawn. The Ngorongoro crater was once a volcano the size of Mount Kilimanjaro that collapsed on itself and is now a natural sanctuary for wildlife. We saw hundreds of zebras, wildebeest and flamingos. We were blessed with the opportunity to see two male Simbas and the luckiest thing of the day was to see two rhinos. We got to see some hippos, water buffalos and enjoyed the sunny day in the crater. After a full day of safari we began our way back to Moshi.

Kwaheri wanyama, we’ll be back! Asante sana. (Goodbye animals, we’ll be back! Thank you so much)

Paula and Brittany

Visiting St. Brendan’s Parish

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We spent Friday the 17th on a 5-hour car ride from Moshi to a small, rural village called Kitete. The village is so remote that most people in the city of Moshi have never heard of it. If you try googling it, it doesn’t exist. The car ride (the parts that we were awake for) was beautiful; we drove past Masai villages, monkeys, camels, the Great Rift Valley, and Lake Manyara.

St. Brendan’s parish, where we stayed in Kitete, is on top of a hill (almost like the bluff) with an amazing view of the lake and surrounding hills. When we arrived, we were greeted by Brother Morris (also known as BroMo, pictured on the right in his swaggy Tire Rack sweatshirt and bucket hat) and a massive lunch. After stuffing our faces, we showed up to mass two hours late. But don’t worry, we got there in time for communion and the last two hours of mass (in Swahili). After mass, we were invited to share a meal with the community. We were still full from lunch #1 (and breakfast and snacks in the car) but we ate anyway. As our host mom lovingly said, “You’re in Africa, you’re allowed to be fat.”

After church, we had a bumpy ride back to St. Brendan’s to tour the vocational secondary school behind the parish. In the evening, we had soup and bread while we waited for the bishop to arrive. Thinking this was our dinner, we filled up. Two hours later, the archbishop showed up and we had dinner #2, this time, it was a full spread (yes, we counted: 6 meals, 1 day). This weekend was special in Kitete because the archbishop was making his yearly visit. Over the weekend, 124 couples were married and 344 people were confirmed. We were there for all of it. Additionally, it had been four years since the newly built church was consecrated and we were a group of 14 visitors–Fr. Sebastian was excited to point out the theme of 4’s. On Saturday, we attended the weddings. 5 hours later, 124 couples were married in the Catholic Church and our group became a choir. Mama Mo composed her first song in Swahili, Asante, and we performed the song during mass and introduced ourselves (this was the only part in English). The entire mass and celebrations were televised on national TV. Afterwards, we watched the newly weds feed each other cake and had the opportunity to feed each other wedding cake, too. All the sitting in church left us pretty restless and looking for movement. When there was no dancing after the weddings, we took it upon ourselves to start a dance party outside the pastoral residence. It began with Yeudith’s tiny speaker, but 20 minutes in, Fr. Sebastian ridiculed our quiet music and brought out a 3-foot tall speaker. We danced for three hours, rain and all. The music brought out priests, brothers, seminarians, the women who cooked our delicious food, and even a bride. It was a great bonding experience, and a highlight of the weekend. We also have a great Swahili playlist now.

The next day, we attended 344 confirmations. This time, we came prepared. We brought water, snacks, journals, and books to help us through the 6 hour ceremony. Some of the younger confirmandi performed a song and dance. We again performed a song for the congregation; we sang Sia Hamba, a South African folk song about marching with God. We had lunch after mass with the priests and bishop, and then laid low until dinner. This time, the party was inside. We danced and played musical chairs all night (we heard that some priests even stayed up until 4am). As Fr. Sebastian said, “In the Western world, you think therefore you are. In Africa, we dance, therefore we are.”

Monday morning, we had breakfast and toured the vocational school more in-depth with BroMo. Students study the trades of knitting, carpentry, welding, brickery and masonry, hairdressing, electrical work, or tailoring. It was amazing to see so many young people with so many talents. Many of us ordered custom-made skirts and shirts from the students in the tailoring department. They were beautiful! After lunch, we watched the student women’s netball and men’s soccer games. In the evening, we introduced the priests to Uno cards and played rambunctious card games for the rest of the night.

Tuesday morning, we woke up at 7am to attend–you guessed it–another mass. This time, it lasted 30 minutes (as promised by Fr. Sebastian) and the homily was given in both Swahili and English. After mass, we packed up our things and said our goodbyes. This was the hardest goodbye of the trip. We bonded with the community at St. Brendan’s and truly felt the spirit of the nation.

On the way to our next destination, we had an exciting drive. The roads were especially muddy and hard to cross due to recent rain, and not even our trusty Land Cruisers were equipped to handle them. We skidded and lost traction driving up and down steep, rocky mud roads. Inevitably, the cars got stuck. Before we could get too nervous, about twenty people came to our rescue from their nearby homes. After lots of trials and errors and muddy shoes, the locals were able to push us out of a ditch and safely back on our way. It was a 10-minute ordeal. 

Without them, we’d probably still be there. To us, this was a crazy car ride; for the locals, it was another Tuesday. This is one of many acts of unconditional kindness that we’ve experienced in Tanzania. We have been blown away by the hospitality and love given so freely by the people we have encountered. We are looking forward to the experiences we’ll have and people we’ll meet in our last week!

Cat & Ariana

We Have Arrived!

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After 2 days of travel we were received with generous hospitality by our hosts. We are staying at the Mwenge Retreat Centre with a breathtaking view of Mt. Kilimanjaro, though we haven’t seen it yet due to the clouds.  Our expectations have been totally blown out of the water. The incredible hospitality, amazing accommodations, and the warmth and kindness of everyone we have met so far has been overwhelming. We are taking it all in.

On our first day we toured Mwenge Catholic University (MWECAU) and met some MWECAU students who took us to the local market in the afternoon which was sensory overload, if not a bit challenging. We also visited Shah Industries, a family business that employs people with disabilities who are skilled artisans in many crafts with leather, wood, and other materials.  So many beautiful things to see and buy.

Today we focused on learning the local language of kiswahil with our excellent MWECAU professors and university student “rafikis” to help us practice. We laughed a lot as we stumbled over new words and phrases with plenty of embarrassing mistakes. 

 

We are off to Homestays for 2 days and will share about our experiences when we return.  

Kwaheri!