Providence, R.I.--The first two recipients of the Father Philip A. Smith, O.P. Student Fellowships for Study and Service Abroad at Providence College told campus audiences their overseas experiences were gratifying and life-changing.
Elizabeth Weber '10 of East Longmeadow, Mass., and Claire Pevoto '10 of Austin, Texas, conveyed their experiences and impressions during two recent presentations in the Center for Catholic and Dominican Studies. Both presentations, which included slides of the students' journeys, were sponsored by the Office of Mission and Ministry (OMM).
The Father Philip A. Smith, O.P Student Fellowships for Study and Service Abroad were established last year by the OMM. The fellowships are designed to encourage juniors and seniors to deepen their understanding of the Catholic and Dominican intellectual traditions and the philosophy of Christian service. Students chosen as fellows participate in summer study or service opportunities at both Catholic and Dominican sites outside the United States.
The fellowships are funded in part through a gift from former College trustee Katherine Tellier Murray '83G and her husband, Thomas Murray. Father Smith, who died in 2007, was a member of the Class of 1963 and served as the College's 11th president from 1994-2005.
Overwhelming experience for Weber
Weber's academic fellowship lasted 10 weeks. While based with Dominicans at Blackfriars Hall at Oxford University, she also traveled to Italy, Hungary, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Austria--in part through projects sponsored by the English Province of Dominicans: the Las Casas Institute (at Blackfriars) and the International Young Leaders Network.
Between intense studying at Oxford and "Catholic field trips" in England and other parts of Europe, Weber said her experiences both "clarified the matter and drew me deeper into the mystery" of what it means to be a Catholic.
"I don't think I will ever wring out all of the meaning from the experiences I had this summer," she said.
At Oxford, Weber studied Latin and the writings of St. Paul with two Dominican Friars at Blackfriars Hall. She spent hours translating passages and writing essays in the Blackfriars library. She also worked closely with Francis Davis, who is a lay Dominican and the director of the Las Casas Institute at Blackfriars Hall.
Beyond Oxford, her fellowship experiences exposed her to academic programs, prayer, and conversations with European natives and people from around the world. Among the highlights, she attended Mass celebrated by Pope Benedict XVI at St. Peter's Basilica; attended another Mass in Santa Sabina, a 5th-century basilica where St. Dominic prayed; participated in a weeklong colloquium in Budapest; and visited Dominican priories in Dubrovnik, Croatia, and Vienna, Austria, that have had a continuous Dominican presence since the 1200s.
"I experienced overwhelming displays of hospitality and love, and in my conversations with others, I encountered the Church," said Weber, who is a philosophy major.
Pevoto sees "hope in action"
Pevoto, meanwhile, spent six weeks in service assisting Dominican Sisters of St. Joseph at an orphanage in the Nueva Ecija province in the Philippines. The orphanage, Bahay ni San Jose, or House of St. Joseph, cares for poor and disabled children.
"The experience changed my life in many valuable ways," exclaimed Pevoto, who said she was a witness to "hope in action."
A humanities major, Pevoto said she felt welcomed and loved from the moment she arrived at the orphanage, noting she was driven there by the parents of Rev. Nicanor Austriaco, O.P., PC assistant professor of biology and a native of the Philippines.
Her roommate was a 19-year-old woman with cerebral palsy whose father was deceased and whose mother was in prison. "It was amazing how cheerful and joyful she was," said Pevoto.
She also spent a considerable amount of time with other disabled young adults at the orphanage, including two women who were blind and mentally challenged.
In addition to socializing with many of the orphans, Pevoto helped them with their homework, washed clothes in the laundry, and presented catechism lessons. She also prayed daily with the four Dominicans Sisters at the orphanage, calling them "my guardian angels."
Near the end of Pevoto's stay, the children showed their gratitude for her service by putting on a show of singing, dancing, and acting.
Pevoto said her experience impressed on her the inherent dignity of all human beings.
"They have nothing, but they give you everything with their gratitude," she said. "It was simplicity and joy, linked together."
Weber summed up the experiences for Pevoto and her by saying, "Through two very different summers, we experienced so much that is good within the same Church and [Dominican] Order. This truly was a summer spent receiving grace and trusting in Providence."
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