By Lizette Guevara

​Goodbye with a wave
Really not enough to say
​Heart’s breaking away

By Mary Louise Pabello

I have known the struggle of migrants all my life, being myself an immigrant to the US. But after the border trip with Loretto’s Latin America and Caribbean Committee, I find myself asking, “do I really?”
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Like the young woman I met at Casa Nazareth, my mother crossed countries while three months pregnant, and with two young daughters in tow. Unlike the young woman, however, my mother wasn’t fleeing violence in her home country. My mother wasn’t made to cross miles of desert on foot. My mother had a husband waiting to receive her. This young woman’s husband was in an unidentified detention center. She was alone. No family other than the life she carried, her yet-unborn child who might grow up never knowing their father.  ​

By Merette Khalil
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Over this past year, I have spent my days at the Family Health and Birth Center working as the Patient Advocate. While this position is a catch-all, entailing lots of “as assigned or as needed” support and liaising between our patients and providers, I spend many hours every day troubleshooting issues, related to insurance and medication coverage, to ensure that patients receive their medications. While there is a certain thrill when these small battles are won, this type of advocacy work is exhausting: Spending hours on the phone each day between pharmacies and insurance companies, listening to patients describe endless ways a simple transaction (picking up medications) failed, trying to come up with creative solutions and engaging all parties in the process to ensure success. Every day I am at work, I am reminded and confronted by the extent to which the US Health Care System is broken, prioritizing profits over people, and disregarding the higher-risk, low-income, complicated-case and multi-barriers-to-wellness families. However, I am also encouraged and inspired, daily, by the work my colleagues do to justly, patiently, and compassionately serve and support our patients in the face of such stark and ubiquitous opposition. ​

By: Natalie Gaviria 

I’m at a loss for words lately. Maybe it’s because I can’t quite sum up everything I’ve been feeling for the last few months since the election. While I could ramble on about my frustrations I think I’d rather make a gratitude list as a reminder of how much there is to be conscious of and thankful for. This is a practice I’m currently trying to deepen. If you’d like to practice or gain more insight check out happify or the global appreciation project!

I am so grateful for..

• This volunteer year and the opportunity to be present
• Having been in two different service sites, each with unique opportunities for growth
• My health and general happiness
• A community that pushes each other to be the best we can spiritually, mentally, emotionally, etc. 
• Family, friends, and community across the globe
• Free housing
• A space to learn from brilliant minds in this city through lectures, protests, and general conversations
• My awesome supervisors (:
• Connecting to the Loretto spirit through the nuns and community that carry it forward 
• Being able to star gaze on the roof
• Nature hikes
• New friends and connections 
• ...and so much much more!