United Methodist volunteers find challenges around world
8/20/2001 News media contact: Linda Bloom · (646) 369-3759 · New York
NOTE: Photos are available with this story.
NEW YORK (UMNS) - Terrell Starr knows how hard it is to impact another person's life in just two months.
As a Global Justice Volunteer with the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries, the 21-year-old student from Detroit recently spent that time interacting with children and youth at an orphanage in northern Russia. Removed from their homes because of abuse or neglect, the children are at risk for involvement in criminal activity or prostitution. About 10 percent commit suicide, Starr said.
Although American youth may share some similar problems, the environment and lack of resources in Russia make everything much more difficult. In fact, Starr added that he's still having trouble comprehending all those obstacles. "I think it's a lifelong lesson," he said about his experience there.
The most recent class of Global Justice Volunteers met in New York the week of Aug. 13 to share and discuss experiences. The program exposes young adults to the challenges facing people around the world through a short-term placement in social justice work.
Some of the volunteers had been involved in mission work before. Starr, a student at Philander Smith College in Little Rock, Ark., was part of a Board of Global Ministries' mission trip to Senegal and spent another week in mission in Haiti.
In Russia, he and two other volunteers worked with an organization called Miramed, which provides clothing, medical care and various classes for children at the orphanage. One of the cultural adjustments for Starr was "being a black person in a town where no one had ever seen one before."
For Sohee Yoo, a 19-year-old Cornell University student, the challenge was relating to domestic workers from the Philippines, Indonesia and Sri Lanka who work in households in Hong Kong. She and two other volunteers worked at Bethune House, a shelter for domestic workers who have suffered abuse from employers or are waiting to resolve immigration issues.
"When I first got there, I wasn't comfortable talking to them," she said. "They weren't comfortable talking to me, either."
Yoo moved to Pennsylvania from Korea when she was in high school. Meeting young women who have suffered abuse while doing domestic work to provide financial help to their families has made her realize the value of her own opportunities.
She also learned the value of offering simple friendship to the women at the shelter, "just to sit with them and talk with them and make them feel at home."
Interacting with others in the community was the highlight of Michael Laux's experience with Habitat for Humanity in Costa Rica. The 19-year-old University of Wisconsin student had worked previously with the Appalachian Service Project and had joined a group from his dormitory at a Habitat site in Alabama during the past year's spring break.
During his time in Esparza, in the central Pacific region of Costa Rica, he worked on construction at least three days a week and also made presentations to classes at the local high school about volunteering for Habitat.
"People deserve to have a good house," said Laux, of Milwaukee. "It was great to get out and meet the homeowners and work side by side with the homeowners every day."
He particularly enjoyed a house renovation project that involved not only a few volunteers but also young people from the neighborhood. Although the work wasn't finished when he left, "it was amazing what we got done in one week."
The application deadline for the next class of Global Justice Volunteers, which begins Jan. 15, is Oct. 15. More information and an application form can be found at http://gbgm-umc.org/vim, the Board of Global Ministries' Web site.
Information also is available by calling the Rev. Bud Heckman at (212) 870-3825.
Korean News
