Advocating For Those With No Voice

HEARTS FILLED WITH MERCY  Nine young adults of St. Paul Inside the Walls, Madison, embarked on a mission trip this summer to serve a home for disabled children in the Dominican Republic. Missioners are pictured posing together (from left): Iman Thomas, Stacy Nolan, Jessica Sanson, Christopher Caulfield, Richard Parro, Michelle Lamaire, Erin McAllon, Lisa Lamaire and Janely Jose.

MADISON  At first, Christopher Caulfield felt uncomfortable.

The graduate student, now 23 years old, delighted being welcomed by the smiling children of Hogar Immanuel home for disabled children outside the city of Puerto Plata in the Dominican Republic during a mission trip this summer. But Caulfield also felt disheartened to see so many kids there living with severe physical and mental disabilities. Most of them are non-verbal and confined to their beds or wheelchairs or use walkers.

“It [seeing the disabled children] just hit me. I felt overwhelmed. I didn’t know what to do,” said Caulfield, who joined a team of nine young adults, from July 30 to Aug. 6, for a service trip to the Dominican Republic — the first such trip offered by the young-adult ministry of St. Paul Inside the Walls: the Diocesan Center for Evangelization at Bayley-Ellard here. “But after a while, these disabled children seemed normal. They smiled, sang and prayed in a morning ‘circle time’ activity. Then, we fed them for dinner. We formed relationships — real bonds — with these kids,” he said.

The ministry — known as St. Paul’s Young Adults — stretched its arms of compassion beyond the walls of the evangelization center to volunteer at the children’s home, run by Mustard Seed Communities (MSC). The faith-filled endeavor helped the missioners commemorate the universal Church’s Jubilee Year of Mercy, said 29-year-old Stacy Nolan, mission trip coordinator, a St. Paul’s Young Adults member and St. Paul’s service project coordinator.

During the trip, the young adults served alongside the professional caregivers, occupational therapists and teachers for dozens of children with physical and mental disabilities — among the most vulnerable of this poor area. The team — which included St. Paul’s Adults and friends — also interacted with MSC, which works to help the community around Puerto Plata overcome extreme poverty in sustainable ways, Nolan said.

“The children got excited, screamed and laughed. They warmed us to us during the week. Because of their dedicated caregivers, they feel loved and cared for,” said Nolan, a veteran of numerous previous mission trips, including several with MSC. “Only two of our team members in the Dominican Republic ever went on a mission trip before. Everyone just jumped in and took on new challenges and opportunities,” she said.

The team remained available to the children — praying and singing with them during “circle time,” playing with them and feeding them at dinner. The children range from 5 to 28 years old. The children’s home that cares for them lies in a coastal area close to the Haitian border in the center of the island of Hispaniola and is located 15 minutes from Puerto Plata, said Nolan, one of several teachers on the trip.

During the week, Caulfield — who previously served with Engineers Without Borders in Haiti — bonded with Angel, a non-verbal 3- or 4-year-old boy, who is confined to a wheelchair.

“Angel just wanted to hold my hand. He would smile,” said Caulfield — a St. Paul’s Young Adults member and a graduate student in neurobiology at New York University — who described the impoverished area of Puerto Plata as dotted with modest concrete houses topped by tin roofs and in disrepair. “Over time, it was easier to see the good things that these kids have in their lives. They are very loving and hopeful, despite their disabilities,” he said.

In locations around the world, MSC are involved with children and adults with disabilities, children affected by HIV/AIDS, nutrition, education, sustainable agriculture, community development and teen mothers and their babies. MSC employs more than 300 local workers, “offering jobs, training and economic viability to people who would otherwise have no opportunity to break out of the cycle of poverty. MSC strives to introduce skills into the community and to empower its people,” MSC states on its web site, www.mustardseed.com.

“We are working towards helping our apostolates become fully self-sufficient through sustainable agriculture. Our hope is that this will improve the quality of life for our residents, while fostering a sense of responsibility within the local community,” MSC states.

On the summer mission trip, the team also undertook capital improvements to the children’s home, actually a compound with several buildings. They performed landscaping, planted a vegetable garden, flower garden and cornfield and installed drainage, Nolan said.

The young adults spent some of their evenings, gathered to pray and “reflect on what’s important: advocating with our voices for those who do not have a voice.” Living so far out of their “comfort zone” without cell phones, they found it much easier to connect with each other, Nolan said.

In recent years, members of St. Paul’s Young Adults have expressed interest in undertaking a mission trip. While most team members have never engaged in such an experience, they have been active in their faith in various ways. Since their return, they have gotten together to “process the trip and chat about how difficult it has been to get back to life in the U.S.,” after having lived so simply, Nolan said.

“In this Jubilee Year of Mercy, we lived and breathed the Corporal Works of Mercy — going outside ourselves to wash the feet of the poor and put food in their mouths — and the Spiritual Works of Mercy — praying for them and for us to be more focused on the world,” Nolan said. “Since coming back from the Dominican Republic, missioners have been inspired to get more involved in living their faith. They have a renewed sense of responsibility to help others in different ways,” she said.