UAC-Carmen Pampa
Come to the Table: Patience
Editor’s note: Missioner Maggie Van Roekel continues a three-part blog series on how kitchens and cooking have become important to her on mission. In part two, Maggie shares a time she learned patience in the UAC campus kitchen in Carmen Pampa, Bolivia. Another kitchen that has made an impact on my experience on mission was the…
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The Privilege of Choice
Editor’s note: Missioner Maggie Van Roekel reflects on the privilege of being able to receive education and choose a job, sharing how teaching and the attitude of her students have challenged her own understanding. As I am finishing my first semester at the UAC, several people have asked me what I feel has been the…
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“Tres Mujeres Valientes”—Three Strong Women
On Friday, May 5, Franciscan Mission Service held our annual World Care Benefit. Every year, the organization bestows the Anselm Moons, OFM, Award to remember our founder, who began the Lay Mission Formation Program in 1989 to offer lay Catholics the opportunity to serve overseas in the spirit of Saints Francis and Clare. This year’s…
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Be Not Afraid and Trust God in the Midst of Suffering
Editor’s Note: Missioner Aubrey Kimble shares how her faith was shaken after a traumatic event in the campus community in Carmen Pampa, Bolivia. “Brothers and sisters, do not be afraid to welcome Christ and accept his power. Help the Pope and all those who wish to serve Christ and with Christ’s power to serve the…
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Be Not Afraid of Foolishness
Editor’s Note: Missioner Tom Little shares how breaking through the image many people had of him when he first came to Bolivia allowed him to open up more and form deeper relationships. On mission I have had to move past the fear of making a fool of myself in order to build relationships with people…
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Thank God for Answered Prayers
Editor’s Note: Missioner Aubrey Kimble shares how some advice from a friend caused her to see her past and present in a different light and set her on a path of deeper gratitude for the future. Thinking of the future has always brought me a bit of anxiety. It usually reminds me of the need…
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Compassionate Equality
Editor’s Note: Missioner Tom Little reflects on the difficult struggle that often arises between compassion and fairness. Overall, teaching English in my first semester at UAC-Carmen Pampa in Bolivia was a positive experience. That is, except for one incident involving a student, which really tore me up. The university has pretty strict rules in place…
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Responding With Love
Editor’s Note: Missioner Aubrey Kimble shares her thoughts about how, often, the seemingly simple and obvious answers are the ones that we should really seek. Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about love. During my free time, I’ve been reading more of the Bible – specifically the Gospels – and man, does Jesus talk a lot…
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Colonization
Editor’s Note: Missioner Aubrey Kimble shares her realizations of the long lasting effects of colonization in Bolivia, especially as it relates to Catholicism. At the beginning of the summer, I was able to attend the Maryknoll Mission Center Language Institute. I am incredibly grateful to have had that opportunity. The language school was very well…
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The Bolivian Way
Editor’s Note: In Bolivia, missioner Tom Little oversees and works in a meat packing plant on the campus of Carmen Pampa University. In this post, he shares how he’s had to adapt to a very different understanding of time and deadlines than what he was used to in the US. My main job at the…
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Learning from Teaching
Editor’s Note: Missioner Tom Little reflects on how beginning a new teaching position in Bolivia led him to celebrate the personality differences around him instead of being unsettled by them. This semester I started teaching English classes at the UAC. This has been a fulfilling experience because I get to see my students make noticeable…
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Perspective and Pastoral
Editor’s Note: Missioner Aubrey Kimble reflects on adjusting her expectations and what she thinks things “should” look like during her first months on mission at Carmen Pampa University in Bolivia. Every Tuesday night, the university’s Pastoral group has a meeting. Pastoral is a group that comes together to share their faith with one another and…
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The Pope Francis Mission Cross in Carmen Pampa
Editor’s Note: Missioner Tom Little shares his reflections from an event at Carmen Pampa University in Bolivia that brought the community closer and allowed them to grow together in faith. Last month the community of Carmen Pampa participated in the passing of the mission cross. Pope Francis brought the cross to Bolivia during his visit last July…
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Accompaniment
Editor’s Note: During this National Volunteer month, missioner Aubrey Kimble shares some of her meditations on volunteering and service. Volunteering has always been something that has interested me. I began volunteering a bit here and there throughout elementary and middle school to help with various campus events. I became slightly more serious about volunteering in…
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Letting Go of the Future to Embrace the Present
Editor’s Note: Missioner Tom Little shares how for him, Lent has been a time to let go of worries about the future and instead focus on the people and places of the present. There are a lot of things that you have to let go when you go on mission in rural Bolivia: friends, family, hockey, decent…
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Celebrating Diversity
Editor’s Note: Missioner Tom Little shares his change of heart during a week of activities at the University where he serves in Carmen Pampa, Bolivia. I just finished my first inter-carreras experience and it was not what I expected. Inter-carreras, or inter-major of study, is a week long group of activities to celebrate the founding…
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Seeing Pope Francis in Bolivia
First-year missioner Tom Little shares about seeing the pontiff during the recent papal visit to Bolivia. Last month, I was extremely lucky to have the opportunity to attend the papal visit in Santa Cruz. All of Bolivia has been abuzz about Pope Francis’ visit since I arrived in January. Everywhere you turned you would see his face. Since…
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I Get by with a Little Help from My Friends
Lately my emotions have been all over the place. I get stressed out when I think of all the stuff I have to bring to and from the US. I’m stressed out about the missioners who will be leaving Bolivia (for good) while I’m away and won’t be here when I get back. Last but…
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A delicious occasion
Editor’s Note: The following post was written by Nate Mortenson. Community work hours are a required contribution students make at the University of Carmen Pampa. It’s part of students’ life here. They study and work on campus when they don’t have class. Many of the students work in areas where they already are skilled. Some…
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A Daunting Task
World Health Day was earlier this month, and this year the World Heath Organization is focused on a subject close to my heart: Food Safety. I feel that food safety is an important issue around the world because its use can prevent serious illness and even death—something that, unfortunately, my fellow missioners have witnessed first…
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“To be consoled as to console” – Leonel and his father
The students of the rural Unidad Académica Campesina – Carmen Pampa overcome many obstacles to receive a college education in Bolivia. The indigenous Quechua and Aymara peoples have little access to health care or education and survive by farming small plots. Students often juggle the stresses of school with those of helping their family. Our missioner…
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