Students work 'On the Border' to aid Mexican families

by Anne C. Miller staff writer

Campus ministry is creating a new tradition by participating in its second service retreat to the Mexican border.

Nine students will travel to the povertystricken areas of Mexico from May 17, 1999 to May 23. Accompanying the group is John DiMucci, campus minister, and Sister Diane Olmstead, MSC, director of vocation ministry.

This "service-learning trip with spiritual dimensions", as DiMucci refers to the pro- gram, is open to all students who are serious and express an interest.

"Students have to be willing to take risks," said Dimucci. "Participants are going outside their comfort zone," he said.

The $800 per person excursion is financed by a combination of student fundraising, donations and contributions from the college.

Students will spend the seven days traveling from El Paso, on the U.S. border,to shanty towns in Juarez, Mexico, home of several sweatshops financed by U.S. businesses.

Four days will be dedicated to educating the students in various border issues including immigration, fair trade and economics. Working side -by- side with Mexican citizens, students will also complete one or two days of physical labor.

"We help out by working with a family or group of people on a project that they pick depending on local need," Dimucci said.

"People don't want charity, what they really want is partnership."

The trip provides students with the chance to see what lies beyond the border and educates them in the ways of this new environment.

"The trip opened a whole new world for me. I never realized that such problems as sweatshops and extreme poverty really existed," said Tony Barrett, a participant of last year's service retreat.

Similar organizations that sponsor these service activities, including the Appalachia retreats and United Students Against Sweatshops, are in the process of being organized.

"I'd like to do more trips like this," said Dimucci. ''These activities are becoming more popular."