The Hawk

Issue date: 10/10/07 Section: Features

From left to right: Meryl Halpern, Father Patrick Samway, Deirdre Guion, Sister Mary Owens, Barbara Conover, and Joseph D'Agostino

Sister Mary Owens and Joseph D'Agostino visited Saint Joseph's University on October 4 to visit the campus and reunite with friends that joined them in Africa this past summer. Sr. Owens led a discussion on AIDS in Africa while sharing stories of her missionary work in the Nyumbani orphanage with a panel of students within the President's Lounge of Campion.

This past summer, Patrick Samway, S.J., professor of English, traveled to Nyumbani with a group from the Saint Joseph's community for two weeks. Having already indulged in the African experience after spending nine months in Chad, Fr. Samway was encouraged by Timothy Lannon, S.J., take a group with him to Kenya to engage in more missionary-type activities.

The cohesive, carefully selected group included Barbara Conover, project manager for the Center for Visualization, Amina Gautier, assistant professor of English, University Physician Edward Gorrie, M.D., Deirdre Guion professor of Marketing, Meryl Halpern, Assistant Director of the Center for International Programs, Sean Kullman, English Department, Jack Okendo Millonde, Athletic Department, Jessica Moran, Area Coordinator in LaFarge Residence, and Joan Ryan, Substance Abuse Counselor and Prevention Specialist. The working pilgrimage retraced the steps of Saint Ignatius during his seven years in Paris and became familiar with the missionary activities associated with the Society of Jesus. The group concentrated its efforts on working in an orphanage called Kitui Village.

During its stay, the group acted with the intention of firming the foundation for a stable community by planting 600 seedlings, building classrooms with bricks from the African soil, and by joining in various pick-up soccer games.

Professor Gautier, through planting the seedlings, believed that the group was helping to "create an ecologically sound environment in which living trees can grow tall and strong, providing shade to those human beings who work in harmony with one another and with the terribly complex world around them."

D'Agostino, whose brother Father D'Agostino passed away this November, is the President on the USA Board of Directors for the Children of God Relief Fund, Inc. Sr. Owens, who funded the orphanage with Fr. D'Agostino 15 years ago, also holds a position on the Kenya Board. Sister Owens's main responsibility lies within the Nyumbani Çenter, which houses 100 children and young adults who are HIV positive. As stated on the website, the center's goal is to "mitigate the impact of HIV/AIDS and decrease the risk of transmission through the provision of comprehensive home-based community care."

Continued...

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