De La Salle Institute District of San Francisco - West Coast Lasallians Travel To India

West Coast Lasallians Travel
To India for Service and Formation

In summer 2007, eight Lasallians from the District of San Francisco journeyed to the Pacific Asia Region for a month-long summer immersion experience named Vandu Paaru (“Come and See”).

In India: Amy Gonzales, Karen Perone, Alissa Kell, Alessandro Bresba, Carrie Kiskila, Margaret Brown-Salazar, Mary Yonekawa, Katherine Rodela

Since 1999, these summer immersions have provided an opportunity for Lasallians from the western United States to experience the Lasallian mission in a very different part of the world. Participants work in a construction project during the day and spend the evenings with students providing recreation and tutoring in English. The participants live with the De La Salle Christian Brothers’ communities and join the Brothers and Partners for meals and daily prayer, while the weekends are spent in travel, getting to know better the people and the land, and joining in special events and celebrations.

The Vandu Paaru participants this year were Alissa Kell (from Justin-Siena High School of Napa), Carrie Kiskila (from De Marillac Academy of San Francisco), Margaret Brown-Salazar (from Saint Mary’s College of California in Moraga), Mary Yonekawa (from De La Salle High School of Concord), Katherine Rodela (from De La Salle North Catholic High School in Portland), Karen Perone (from Christian Brothers High School in Sacramento), Amy Gonzales (from Saint Mary’s College High School in Berkeley), and Alessandro Bresba (from Sacred Heart Cathedral Preparatory in San Francisco).

Their site was southern India. The volunteers worked at St. Pius X Boys Town in Madurai, Tamil Nadu, and at St. Joseph Boys Village in Genguvarpatti, Tamil Nadu. Boys Town is a vocational center with practical training in the trades in addition to formal education for the boys in residence, many of whom are poor and abandoned youth. St. Joseph Boys Village serves about a hundred boys ages seven through fourteen.

Director of Boys Town
Brother John Britto, FSC

A dancer performs at the grand opening of the Lasallian mission at Nagapattinam

Robert Jordan, assistant director of the Office of Education for the District of San Francisco, says that although the program is one of direct service, it also has a deeper purpose and has been shown to have a lasting impact. “In the orientation to the program, I stress that the deeper purpose is formation. The direct experience of living out the Lasallian mission to the poor is a powerful moment of Lasallian formation for many of the participants.” More than eighty members of the District of San Francisco have taken part in Vandu Paaru programs in India and Sri Lanka since the program’s founding. The Vandu Paaru program is open to all faculty and staff members of Lasallian institutions in the District of San Francisco. For complete information, contact Robert Jordan in the Office of Education at rjordan@dlsi.org.

After their return home, the volunteers of 2007 shared with us their hundreds of superb photographs, a few of which are reproduced at the foot of this page. There you will also find links to photo galleries posted elsewhere on the Internet. Some of the volunteers also spoke with us to reflect upon their experience.

Margaret Brown-Salazar is a
reference and instruction librarian
at Saint Mary’s College of California:

"If I were asked to sum up in one word what I experienced in India, the word would be ‘community’. We were welcomed into the Brothers’ community as partners in the mission of De La Salle. First of all you need to know that De La Salle Brothers in India are young! Brother Director John Britto of Boys Town is 34 and is one of the older Brothers. His assistant, Brother Ignatius Britto, is 24. We met Brothers at all levels of discernment, aspirants, postulants, young Brothers and Brothers who had completed their final vows. They shared their thoughts and their dreams with us as they invited us to learn more about their work at Boys Town. They took us to visit neighboring De La Salle communities: orphanages, schools, children’s villages, and centers with assistance for Tsunami victims. In each of these facilities we met more Brothers and lay partners selflessly working to build community among the discarded and abandoned people of the lowest caste in India, mostly women and children. Each place we visited, we were welcomed as family. We were told that once a woman or child enters that community, she or he becomes part of the De La Salle family. What that means is that the community becomes committed to a relationship across their lifespan.

“Recently I was e-mailing one of my new friends in India and we were continuing our conversation about the similarities of our work. At Boys Town the boys are taken in and taught a skill that enhances their lives and allows them to find meaningful work and become leaders in their communities. As librarian for graduate education students I teach information literacy skills to students which enhances their lives and their work and contributes to their education which in turn, allows them to become leaders in their professional communities. What I am struck by is the difference: In my work, I think I enhance lives; in the work I saw in India, they save lives. Since I returned, I have been struggling with the question of how I am called to save lives. I hope the answer to this question will unfold as time passes. What I am sure of is how deeply this experience has transformed my own life, my own thinking."

Amy Gonzales is a counselor
at Saint Mary’s College High School in Berkeley, California:

"Saint John Baptist de La Salle said that ‘To touch the hearts of your students and to inspire them with the Christian spirit is the greatest miracle you can perform, and one which God expects of you.’ Each day that I spent with the Brothers in India, I witnessed miracles. By living with and spending time with the boys, I was able to see the fruit of the Brothers’ labor. Each night that I spent with the boys, the miracle of the Brothers’ presence in their lives was apparent. Whether we were singing songs in Tamil, playing games or teaching them English, the community and homes that the Brothers have created for these children showed through in the way the boys prayed, treated one another, and shared what little they had with us and each other. I smile when I think of the many Brothers I met during my visit. I think of their daily activities and their never-ending work. I recall how they tirelessly tutored, played with and cared for the students in their charge. At first glance, the work seems overwhelming and daunting. But through conversations with the Brothers and reflecting on my time with them, I realized that what they do for their students is not work, but rather a gift. Their time with the students and the opportunities they have to be present in their lives is a blessing. It is through their presence with their students that the miracle happens.

“During my time in India I had the opportunity to visit several Lasallian institutions in the area. It was clear that each institution was dedicated to serving the neediest of the population. With each visit to a new school, I was humbled by the every day miracles of outreach and care that the Brothers extended to their students. The Brothers provided access to education to all in need, despite gender or religion. I was especially impressed by the Brothers’ commitment to serve and provide resources for girls. In a culture that has many obstacles for young women, the Brothers were committed in giving them an education, job training and housing. I even had the opportunity to listen to their concerns of how they will provide for the young women in Girls Village when it is time for them to marry after they complete their education and training. They worried about these young girls as if they were their own daughters and were committed to providing for them. The Brothers established schools, hostels and communities with the goal of improving the lives of others through education and training. I have a deeper understanding of who the Brothers are and the importance of their work.

“On my computer desktop is a picture of me and the boys of Boys Village. It serves as a daily reminder of both the miracles I witnessed while in India, and of the potential I have as a Lasallian educator to make miracles by touching the hearts of my students. Watching the Brothers touch hearts and make miracles every day touched my own heart, and my life is forever changed."

Mary Yonekawa is a mathematics instructor
at De La Salle High School in Concord, California:

"People always ask, ‘How was India? – as if I could give a one-word answer that would convey all the emotions, sights, and adventures that filled a month! If I had to give one word it would be ‘awesome’ -- to mean it filled me with awe. First of all, I am in awe of the work that the Christian Brothers do in India. They go beyond meeting the basic needs of the people --food, housing, education -- in their care and also provide emotional support and beauty. They clearly touch the hearts of the poor with warmth, laughter, and a generosity of spirit. Every facility at each ministry was clean and eye-pleasing. The beauty seemed to respect the dignity of the people served. Secondly, the people filled me with awe. Even those with so little showed such grace and joy. And, lastly, the beauty of God's awesome creation is more than evident in India."

For more than a hundred photos of the Vandu Paaru experience compiled by Margaret Brown-Salazar, click here

Allesandro Bresba and Amy Gonzales hard at work