| Chris McNabb
Class of 2009
La Salle University
Actions
Not Words
I
have known the Holy Child Sisters for a long time. I graduated
Rosemont School of the Holy Child in 2001. My mom is a physical
therapist at the New Sharon convent in Rosemont, Pennsylvania. Throughout
my years of knowing the Sisters of the Holy Child, I often heard
the simple phrase, “actions not words.” It seemed
simple enough- don’t say you’re going to do something,
just do it. The beauty of the Holy Child Sisters is their commitment
to this phrase: when they say they will help, they will, and in
ways unimaginable. The Holy Child Sisters have continued
to live out their philosophy by giving a grant to the Los Niños program
at LaSalle.
When
you come into Tijuana from San Diego, you see the extreme poverty
and you can feel the desperate situations of the people. With
little children living on the streets, pleading for some sort of
aid, it is hard not to help.
The
Los Niños trip is inspirational. The people of Tijuana
have been hurt left and right, they have been disrespected and
hated. Despite this, they continue full of life and happiness.
Even
though the people of Tijuana live in abject poverty, they possess
the kind of wealth for which Christians strive. They have
a great love of others and compassion for their fellow men and
women. They are genuine- what you see is what you get. They
are friendly. They are trusting despite being hurt. Most
of all, they have a deep Catholic faith. They are a beautiful
people. I see now why the Sisters of the Holy Child Jesus
continue their mission of actions not words in foreign countries. I
thank them for continuing their mission through us.
There
are so many beautiful things about the Los Niños program. One
of my favorite ideals of the program is how we work side by side
with the community. In our time in Tijuana, we worked with
adults, teenagers, and children all in the fight together; the
fight to end poverty. We all gathered as one to bring about
a better situation. As the song goes, “we are one
body, one body in Christ, and we do not stand alone”.
I
remember walking into an old classroom, at one of the schools we
were working at. As I walked into the classroom the little
boys and girls had a nervous smile on their face. As I began
to play soccer with them, they warmed up to me. However I
noticed out of the corner of my eye a little boy who was sitting
by himself. I invited him over as we began reading
stories together. He was not so sure about me. However
as I was reading, in broken Spanish, I felt these two little arms
around me. I looked down to find that same boy. I’m
not sure what changed, but for whatever reason he now trusted me. I
guess he saw me as a safe haven for all going on around him. It
truly was a magical moment.
At
the same work site I saw a young man of about thirteen. He
was brilliant. He had an amazing grasp of our language. He
picked up instantly on the way we carried ourselves and quickly
imitated us. Despite being so proud of my new friend, I was
so sad for him. This young man had to drop out of school
to help his family. I had images of this boy being the next
president of Mexico. It screamed to me the injustice of the
system. It spurred me on to do more for the people of Mexico,
especially the children.
The
Holy Child Sisters display a passion to help the children of our
world. As my teachers, they encouraged me with their words,
and now as our benefactors they give us an avenue to put their
motto into action. I now know what this world needs is actions
not words. Thank you Sisters for allowing us to preach not
just by our words, but by our lives.
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