Spirituality inspires senior
Student uses faith and abroad experience in life plans
Kiki Francesca Reginato '12
Issue date: 2/18/09 Section: Features
Most teenagers beg their parents to not go to church, but Jacquelyn Phillips '09 spent her teen years giving sermons. "It was something that I took to right away," she said, "and really enjoyed doing."
It was this interest that caused Phillips to major in religion and is currently writing her senior thesis on service and spirituality. In her paper she examines two trips she took, one to India her junior year to study the Ramakrishna's and the other to Peru to study Catholicism and grassroots organizations. In both of these countries, she observed how people are inspired by their faith to serve the public.
"Spirituality in these communities was intrinsically linked with social responsibility. Out of the goodness of their hearts they felt they were obligated to help others," said Jacquelyn.
Over the summer between her junior and senior year, Phillips worked with an organization in Puno, Peru called La Escuela de Mujeres en Comunicación y Producción, or EMCOP, which gives out micro loans to women in the indigenous community.
"In these indigenous towns women are doubly oppressed because of their race and gender," remarked Phillips. "Women would often be subject to physical abuse from their husbands, but ever since they were able to get micro loans it has changed the social make-up of the community."
The program was originally financed by the Catholic Church, but broke off to become an independent grassroots organization. The government does not subsidize the program and none of the four women who run EMCOP get paid.
"Spirituality played a large part in the organizations motivation. Once I asked one of the women, 'why? Why do this?' and she answered, 'Jesus helped the poor and so should we,'" recalled Phillips.
In her travels to Varanasi and Jaipur, India, to work with the Ramakrishnas, she saw many of the same problems with poor health and general poverty. The Ramakrishna mission attempted to solve the problem of poor health by implementing education programs that taught the community about safe health practices with the intention to teach the people so that they could become self-sufficient and would not have to rely on charity.
The Ramakrishna's are a sub sect of the Hindu faith that believe that all people of all religions are valuable. Indian society is still very much a Caste driven system, even though there have been many movements to get rid of this rigid social structure. The caste system it is now outlawed.
"Unlike in Peru, the system of oppression, the Caste system, was written down, it was a law for so many years. It has caused a kind of lasting oppression on the lower classes."
Phillips focused on how these two religious group's social justice work and their faith are tied together saying, "the specific myths, rituals, and practices of a particular religious group lend themselves naturally to social service. While many non-religious groups serve their communities, it is important to recognize the unique contribution of faith groups such as the Ramakrishna Mission and EMCOP.
In these two organizations faith and service are inseparable."
It was this interest that caused Phillips to major in religion and is currently writing her senior thesis on service and spirituality. In her paper she examines two trips she took, one to India her junior year to study the Ramakrishna's and the other to Peru to study Catholicism and grassroots organizations. In both of these countries, she observed how people are inspired by their faith to serve the public.
"Spirituality in these communities was intrinsically linked with social responsibility. Out of the goodness of their hearts they felt they were obligated to help others," said Jacquelyn.
Over the summer between her junior and senior year, Phillips worked with an organization in Puno, Peru called La Escuela de Mujeres en Comunicación y Producción, or EMCOP, which gives out micro loans to women in the indigenous community.
"In these indigenous towns women are doubly oppressed because of their race and gender," remarked Phillips. "Women would often be subject to physical abuse from their husbands, but ever since they were able to get micro loans it has changed the social make-up of the community."
The program was originally financed by the Catholic Church, but broke off to become an independent grassroots organization. The government does not subsidize the program and none of the four women who run EMCOP get paid.
"Spirituality played a large part in the organizations motivation. Once I asked one of the women, 'why? Why do this?' and she answered, 'Jesus helped the poor and so should we,'" recalled Phillips.
In her travels to Varanasi and Jaipur, India, to work with the Ramakrishnas, she saw many of the same problems with poor health and general poverty. The Ramakrishna mission attempted to solve the problem of poor health by implementing education programs that taught the community about safe health practices with the intention to teach the people so that they could become self-sufficient and would not have to rely on charity.
The Ramakrishna's are a sub sect of the Hindu faith that believe that all people of all religions are valuable. Indian society is still very much a Caste driven system, even though there have been many movements to get rid of this rigid social structure. The caste system it is now outlawed.
"Unlike in Peru, the system of oppression, the Caste system, was written down, it was a law for so many years. It has caused a kind of lasting oppression on the lower classes."
Phillips focused on how these two religious group's social justice work and their faith are tied together saying, "the specific myths, rituals, and practices of a particular religious group lend themselves naturally to social service. While many non-religious groups serve their communities, it is important to recognize the unique contribution of faith groups such as the Ramakrishna Mission and EMCOP.
In these two organizations faith and service are inseparable."
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