pdf copy - Fairfield College Preparatory School

Taken from reflection by
Ryan Matera ’15, El Salvador 2013
l Salvador was not as much a service
E trip as it was an inner evaluation of
our pampered lives as citizens of Fairfield
County. The change that occurred in El
Salvador was not in the form of a new
town community center or the painting of
a children’s school; rather it was within
our minds and hearts. Though I was called
by our group leaders to “describe the
indescribable,” it was often difficult to
portray the revelation we experienced.
A typical day for us consisted
of hearing from a different group of
people, whether it was a middle-aged
man working at the cooperation for his
family or the 18-year-old Rosie attending
college to be able to make a better life
for herself. These people each offered
different insight on topics ranging from
true generosity and the happiness of
simplicity to communism and immigration
here in the States. Eventually we had
the ability to place ourselves in the lives
of the Salvadoran people, and our lives
back home seemed so superficial and
filled with things that we will never need.
After examining the materialistic things
which we revolve our lives around, it
suddenly became so clear to me as to why
there was so much sadness in our world.
It was as if all happiness was a veil of a
deepening sorrow caused by attachments
to things that will eventually leave us. I
was in disbelief at the amount of virtue and
hardcore faith there was surrounding them.
They all attended church every Sunday,
but they all go beyond that, and their faith
seeps out into their everyday life. Weekly,
several members of the community get
together with a priest and discuss random
topics about their religion. The week I went
it was about balancing faith and happiness,
and students were reminded to not only
turn to God when times were tough, but
also when they were joyous. It was more
than talks about God, however. It was not
uncommon to be having a conversation
with a local when you suddenly find
yourself discussing your religion. Their
faith was in everything they did, acts both
selfless and selfish. This idea of them living
out their faith was shown when I asked
the nun who organized our mission down
there, Sister Elena, where their church
was. She looked at me with a smile and
replied, “Everywhere.”
In Thomas Moore’s Re-Enchantment
of Everyday Life, he points out that being
busy is being caught up with things we
do not really need nor care about. If we
are doing what we truly love, then we are
never busy. I try to live this way- investing
care and attention into everything I do,
even the most banal of tasks- but I am
often dreading certain assignments or
appointments. Nevertheless, the people of
El Salvador have shown me the truth that is
all around us, though most people cannot
recognize it. I long to return to El Salvador
where I can learn to be this way in a world
where it is all too difficult. I want to not only
experience the love and affection of the
friendships I have made and have yet to
make down there but I also want to assure
that the people with whom I travel , my
brothers, see what I saw and learn what
I learned so that they too may be able to
deny the life which has been set out for us
and find true happiness in their existence
here on earth - for it does exist in the most
deprived of places so why would it not be
able to exist here?
Ryan Matera ’15
Prep Today 21