graduate and law news and views
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News and events for USD's graduate and law studentsTRANSCRIPT
Graduate and Law News and Views www.sandiego.edu/gradlife October, 2011
What ’s Inside University Ministry: Tijuana Day Trip
1 Important Academic Dates
1 A Gift: A nursing student’s visit with her family in Africa
2 October’s Grad/Law Events
3 Graduate Housing: Celebrating the new school year
4 Contribute to GLNV
5 Connect to Graduate Student Life
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Important Academic Dates: October 1st: Application for
January Intersession financial aid available
October 14th: Fall Holiday (no classes)
October 17th: Deadline to petition for May 2012 graduation
On September 24, University Ministry took a group of graduate and law students, as well undergraduates across the border for the day. USD students worked together digging ditches and leveling ground for a community center in La Morita. In addition to the service project, USD students also met with residents at Casa Las Memorias, which is a home for those with HIV/AIDS. There they were able to build connections through conversations with the residents. The day ended with a border tour where the group reflected on immigration issues, as well as those people that had touched their hearts. Overall, it was a powerful experience for all those that went. For more information on that trip or future trips, please feel free to email Andrew McMillin at [email protected]. Our next trip will be October 29 and we are taking signups. If interested, please email Erin Bishop at [email protected].
Breaking Ground: Tijuana Day Trip
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referring to Frankie. “It’s not just the material investments he has made, it is his time, his leadership and the use of the gift God has given him—the ability to network and lead in communities.” “What is my gift?” It was a question Gail and Frankie had discussed when he was in the process of discovering his gift for working with communities. Gail’s answer was, “My gift is to be a mirror, to reflect back what is the best in people, who they are and what they can become. I hope that is it, believe it is.” She continued, “God showed me with a painting, a portrait that Robert, a boy in the choir, HIV positive, made in one day of me, presented, in a beautiful frame.” As Gail looked back to the day she advised Frankie to return to Africa after he had been working for Camp Marston for over a year, she asked him if he was happy. His answer: “So much Mama, so much.” ~Put together by: Jamie Rosenbloom
Gail Reiner, a DNP student at USD, took an uplifting and heart-warming trip to Tanzania in the spring. Not only was she able to see her son, Frankie and his family, but she was also able to touch the lives of so many people who are battling HIV/AIDS.
Frankie, though not her biological son, became part of her family many years ago when he was camp councilor at Camp Marston in Julian, CA. Gail’s biological son brought Frankie home for the holidays when he couldn’t make it back to Tanzania, and from the moment Gail welcomed him into her home, he was part of the family. Since then, Frankie has returned to Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania to start his own family (with children named after Gail) and work with PASADA to provide medical care and support for those people with HIV/AIDS. He is also currently working towards his PhD from Johns Hopkins.
Gail’s visit to Tanzania was full of struggles, hardships, love, happiness, hope and God.
One thing Gail struggled to understand while in Tanzania was her purpose. She was told by one of the doctors that just her attendance in the children’s group would stay with them and be a topic of conversation for quite a long time. She wrote, reflecting on her experience, “It is a small thing to me and I don’t even feel or believe that my mzungu presence counts for much for very long, but I represent far more than myself and that is something the children and people experience in a way I cannot understand nor do I need to.”
“I have seen the acceptance of suffering and the pain of difficulties that are a consequence of perpetual poverty,” Gail recalled as she questioned to what she bore witness. Singing, dancing, laughing, and spending time with family and friends is more important than material items for those with whom Gail spent time. This perpetual poverty, however, sometimes keeps people from reaching out and getting healthcare, which is part of the goal of PASADA. Gail talked about the stigma that affects children whose parents have died from HIV/AIDS: “I see the continuum of struggling between right and wrong just as it happens in every person and in every community in the world. [Children are] abandoned by relatives and robbed sometimes of property that should rightfully be theirs.”
She reflected on their stories and songs about their struggles to survive. “A little money goes a very long way here, a very long way and it is through education and healthcare that the communities will be able to sustain themselves and continue in life with hopefully the best of what their beautiful culture includes.”
While in Tanzania, Gail had the wonderful opportunity to experience God’s presence and light in times of suffering and pain. “God is good. All the time,” Gail wrote about her visit. She was referring to the children’s laughter, the Saturday night celebration of family, the prayer services, holding babies in the community, chai tea, and two children who played with her, just to name a few things. She was also
A Gift: A nursing student’s visit with her family in Africa
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Upcoming Graduate and Law Student Events
October 26th Girl’s Night 6:30pm, SLP 401
Join us for a night of watching romantic comedy, painting nails, reading magazines and eating ice cream!
October 31st Fall Celebration All Day, SLP 401
Stop by and paint a mini-pumpkin, eat some pumpkin pie, enjoy hot apple cider, and socialize with other grad and law students! Pumpkin painting contest!
October 13th Theology on Tap Working for Economic Justice: A Path to Solidarity 7:00pm-8:00pm, SLP 401
October 28th Candle Making
Create hand made beeswax candles infused with your positive intentions. 5:30-7:30pm, SLP 401 Limited space available. To reserve a space email Jamie Rosenbloom: [email protected]
October 21st Cabrillio National Monument: t eOld Light House Tour (not open to the public) 3:30pm-5:30pm, happy hour at the Wine Pub in Point Loma to follow Limited space available. Contact Brianna Tracy for more information: [email protected]
October 29th Tijuana Service Trip For more information contact Andrew McMillin [email protected]
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Contact Jamie Rosenbloom at [email protected]
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