Manchester Magazine Spring 2014 | Page 21

MU | F e a t u r e s Human Conflict is not an easy A. Yoder required the students to read two books before leaving, and he encouraged them to study up on Jamaica’s socioeconomic and political landscape, too. Class met almost every day of the three-week trip, and students had to keep a daily journal. For the week at Maranatha, the MU students donated heavy manual labor, resurfacing a cement roof on a dormitory, constructing a cement floor for a chicken coop, filling potholes in the road, and covering a worn playground with clean, soft sand for the children. It was hard, labor-intensive work. To repair the roof, Good explained, students formed a “bucket brigade,” carrying heavy three-gallon containers of cement up ladders by hand. The women who run Maranatha were grateful for the help. “When we left they were crying,” said sophomore Julio Luevano ’16 of North Manchester. “They were overwhelmed,” added Chase Holford ’17, a first-year student from Valparaiso, Ind. In turn, Yoder said most of the students “have not done much volunteering and they find that to be very rewarding.” After Maranatha, the MU travelers moved on to Kingston, Jamaica’s largest city and a living laboratory that complemented Yoder’s course. As a “big group of white guys,” Chase said, the MU travelers were conspicuous everywhere they went. That was a valuable lesson, too, Yoder said, because they got a taste of what it feels like to be in a racial minority. Tyler Kuzdas ’17 learns sign language while Coach Dave Good (top) and Matt Gray ’14 (bottom) reflect on the experience. In an urban setting, the students learned about conflict in different social systems, and about crime, gangs, government corruption and poverty. “It really opened my eyes,” said Chase. “I’ve never personally experienced poverty like that.” Manchester | 21