By Carrie McClish
Staff writer

Fifteen-year-old Emily Rhodes was stunned by the stark and grim scenes she witnessed last year during her first visit to León, Mexico, as part of her parish’s Confirmation outreach project. “It was nothing I’d ever seen before,” she said.

During the week-long mission trip to Leon, Mexico, with members of her youth group from Santa Maria Parish in Orinda, Savannah Olivier befriends two youngsters who live at a Salesian-run youth center.

The houses were small, run down single-story structures made of various materials, including cloth. Children ran barefoot through “muddy pathways” instead of streets. On street corners, she saw men “sniffing glue from cloth, and getting high.” Those images left a lasting impression. “It was hard for me to believe people actually lived in those conditions.”

Initially shocked, Rhodes became extremely sympathetic to the people in this Mexican community outside León, and what they had to endure. “It was a sad but profound experience; seeing the barrio really made me appreciate what I have.”

That inner journey convinced Rhodes, now 16 and a junior at Miramonte High School, to return to Mexico this year, again as part of a week-long mission trip organized by Santa Maria Parish in Orinda as part of its Confirmation program.

The trip gives the teens opportunities to see firsthand the challenges faced by people living in poverty and to help them, said Gail Gabriel, who coordinates the junior high school ministry program at the parish and was one of several adults who accompanied the group this year.

Dylan Cannon (right), one of several chaperones who accompanied the Orinda youth group on its journey to Leon, enjoys an arm wrestling match with one of the boys at the youth center.

Eleven members of the parish Confirmation group participated in the mission trip. Two of the travelers had attended the inaugural trip last year when Rhodes and other group members visited the barrio. This year the group returned to León, where they spent most of their time in a Don Bosco (Salesian) community that takes in boys, ages 9 to 18, who are living on the streets.

The Salesians provide shelter, education and food at this site for up to 70 boys. The hope is that these young men’s lives will be “transformed” and that when they leave they will become successful members of society, Gabriel said.

During their stay, the Orinda teens worked to improve the grounds. They whitewashed a 10-12 foot cinderblock wall that surrounds the property “so that it wasn’t so bleak,” Gabriel said. They also washed down and painted the bases of trees to keep bugs away from the compound.

When they weren’t working, they spent time getting to know the boys living at the center. Despite much curiosity and goodwill on both sides, there were some language problems.

“I’ve been studying Spanish for two years in school which was a great help, but there were times when it was a challenge because most of them didn’t speak English,” said Savannah Olivier, a Santa Maria youth group member. But being in a Spanish-speaking environment increased her motivation to continue to “learn the language,” she said.

“Some of the boys were very curious and wanted to get to know us,” said Rhodes. “Some were shy, but for the most part the boys were very friendly and loved to joke around amongst themselves and with us.”

The Orinda teens joined with the residents in afternoon and evening recreation sessions that were filled with games like ping pong and soccer and singing songs to guitar music. They also went to church with the Mexican youth and they all prayed with one another.

While she went to Mexico in hopes of giving rather than receiving, Rhodes returned to Orinda again this year with special gifts and lessons. “The boys taught me that you do not need much to be happy,” she said. “They are mostly very happy and have so little. For them, their relationships amongst each other and their faith are all they need.”

Witnessing such faith greatly empowered her own spiritual journey, Rhodes said. “When I went last year, I was not sure if I wanted to be confirmed. After the trip I was so inspired by the experience that not only did I get confirmed, but I chose Don Bosco as my confirmation name. They have so much faith, and it does so much for them, that it is inspiring.”

Olivier also said the journey to Mexico changed her “entire outlook on life” and has helped her to become more interested in her faith and in the Salesian Order. Realizing how much of the Mexican culture revolves around religion opened her eyes to the “power Catholicism has,” she said.

“The relationships between God and the boys showed me that, no matter where you come from or what you have, if you just believe, it will guide you in the right path,” she said.

“All of these boys have so much love, kindness, and affection towards others that when we were saying our final goodbyes it was hard not to cry because you could see the purity of love through acts of kindness. That is the work of God shining through.”

Four of the students on this year’s trip will be among 28 youth being confirmed at Santa Maria on May 18.

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