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| Marissa King holds Citalli, a young girl in Guatemala City, Guatemala. Citalli was one of Marissa's students during the last month she (Marissa) was in Guatemala. During that time, she volunteered at a medical clinic and school, Roca de Ayuda (Rock of Help), in Guatemala City. |
December 7, 2005
A 2005 Hesston College graduate who studied Spanish says learning that
language has opened up a whole new world for her, and enabled her to
reach out to Spanish-speaking people.
After taking four Spanish courses at Hesston, one each semester, Marissa King,
Sturgis, Mich., said she was "primed for an experience outside the U.S.
and outside my comfort zone. My goals included learning culture, taking my Spanish
skills to the next level, and helping out where I could," she said.
Following graduation last May, King spent four months in Guatemala (Central America).
For the first three months, she enrolled in the CASAS (Central American Studies
and Service) program in Guatemala City, the capital. CASAS is a Mennonite program
that includes two months of language study and one month of service.
Four other Hesston College students participated in the CASAS program at the
same time: 2005 graduate Ben Hershberger, Topeka, Kan., and three current sophomores--Matt
Alison, Hesston, Kan.; Jessica Penner, Harper, Kan.; and Audra Christophel, Moundridge,
Kan.
During her language study, King learned the language in the capital city and
lived with a host family.
For her month of service, King worked at an AIDS hospice in the mountains, called
La Casa de San Jose (House of San Jose). for orphaned children with AIDS or who
were HIV positive.
King extended her stay in Guatemala a month, volunteering at a medical clinic
and school, Roca de Ayuda (Rock of Help), in Guatemala City. The clinic offers
inexpensive medical treatment. "I was involved in medical trips, taking
medicine and offering free examinations to rural areas where doctors are not
accessible," she said. "I also assisted with a program to provide food
to the poorest families in the city and taught English in some of the ravines
of Guatemala City. And I served in whatever ways I could with the children," she
explained. The program provided a free lunch for school-aged children to provide
them with at least one meal a day.
"I certainly plan on returning someday soon to Guatemala, as well as other
Spanish-speaking countries," she said. "I expect that opportunities
will continue to arise in which I can serve by using my Spanish."
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| Marissa King helps teach English to Hispanic students through the English as a Second Language (ESL) program at Wall Elementary School in Sturgis, Mich. |
Since her return to her hometown of Sturgis, King has found ways to reach out to Spanish-speaking people. "I have used my Spanish in surprising places, such as in grocery stores to help a mother who doesn't read nor speak English. I am also working at Wall Elementary School in Sturgis with the English as a Second Language (ESL) program, where knowing Spanish is obviously a requirement. I consider this job an opportunity to serve and to continue my education in an unconventional setting. To be the link in communication is a feeling that is indescribable."
Another way she uses her Spanish is while transporting Spanish-speaking people to the doctor's office.
"I'm loving the opportunity to use my Spanish to help others," she said. She explained that some of the Spanish-speaking people are migrants, while others have settled in the Sturgis area.
King says learning Spanish has been one of the best experiences of my life. "I have felt the vulnerability and frustration of not being able to understand," she said. "I have experienced the thrill of independence that comes from the realization that I can communicate in another set of words so different than my own native tongue.
"But most of all, I feel like I have set the stage in my own life, to reach out to an often misunderstood and forgotten part of our U.S. society," she continued. "Isn't that exactly what Jesus does, reaching out to those who are ignored and left behind?
"I get really excited with the prospect of the possibilities Spanish brings," King said. "I am so thankful for all Spanish instructor Maria Day has done to help me reach beyond the classroom and into real life. The Spanish department at Hesston College has impacted my life incredibly."
Spanish instructor Maria Day said students who study Spanish at Hesston College have learned much about language, culture, and service. "They have chosen to put into practice not only their language skills, but also part of the mission statement of Hesston College. The statement says that the college 'educates and nurtures each student...for service to others in the church and in the world.'
"To paraphrase the college's tagline, Spanish students like Marissa have started here and gone everywhere," Day continued. "She is an example of students who have taken the skills they practiced in class to use them in whatever settings God leads them.
"One of the main goals in our Spanish classes is communication skills in listening and speaking," Day said. "We do things orally in a safe place where they can practice and have fun. What we do in class is important, because wherever they go, the ability to speak Spanish is a skill that will benefit them in their profession, or in mission and service, beyond college.
"By studying Spanish, students have a better understanding of who they are and what they believe," she said. "It helps change their worldview as it relates to their faith and cross-cultural relations in the U.S. or abroad.
"Marissa is representative of students who recognize that the skill of speaking Spanish will be practical and beneficial in establishing relationships across cultures," Day said. "And with the Hispanic population increasing in the U.S., there is a growing need for Spanish-speaking professionals."
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Hispanics constitute 14 percent of the U.S. population. With an estimated 41.3 million Hispanics now in the U.S., it's expected they will make up one-fourth of the population by the year 2050.
Day said soon after Ben Hershberger (mentioned earlier in this article) completed his Spanish studies with CASAS, he began a one-year assignment with Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) in Honduras.
Another 2005 graduate, Lachelle (Shelly) Horst, Chambersburg, Pa., is in Bolivia serving in a one-year MCC assignment in Talita Cumi Hogar de Ninos (Children's Home) in the capitol city of Santa Cruz. She wrote to Day recently, indicating that the people there speak Castellano, the Spanish spoken in Spain. But Horst indicated she can converse with the people, thanks to the strong Spanish foundation she achieved at Hesston. Horst even reported that people have asked her where she learned Spanish. She's grateful to tell them she graduated from Hesston College.