Meet our 2011-2012 BWSC Volunteers!
Left to right: Ashley Irons, Jana Graczyk, Sarah Schwalbach and Maggie Niebur
Four graduates from the Class of 2011 at the College of Saint Benedict will be traveling to Puerto Rico and Tanzania this fall to serve as volunteers for the Benedictine Women's Service Corps. The program is a ministry of the Sisters of the Order of Saint Benedict in St. Joseph, Minnesota.
Ashley Irons and Maggie Niebur will be traveling to Tanzania, to live and serve with the Benedictine Sisters of St. Agnes Monastery in Chipole. The monastery has many ministries to the local people. They run both a high school and an elementary school, as well as an orphanage. They have a dispensary and raise all their own meat and vegetables on their farm. Ashley may be able to offer some help here, as she was a 2010 student worker for the monastery CSA, Common Ground Garden. The Sisters are presently building a hospital on their property as well. Maggie Niebur is an English major from Miesville, Minnesota. Ashley Irons is a Peace Studies major from Twin Falls, Idaho.
Sarah Schwalbach and Jana Graczyk will both live with and assist the Sisters of Monasterio Santa Escolastica in Humacao, Puerto Rico. It is the second year that volunteers will be sponsored at this location. Sarah, a Hispanic Studies and Communications major from River Falls, Wisconsin, will teach English to kindergarteners. Jana, a Hispanic Studies and Biology major from Lake Elmo, Minnesota, will be teaching health and American studies to middle school children. Both Jana and Sarah studied abroad in Latin America as CSB students.
Read about this year's Service Corp Volunteers' challenges, struggles, hands-on learning, and rewards in their blogs on the left hand side bar of this page.
Below are interviews from our 2010-2011 Sevice Corp volunteers.
Megan Sinner on her experience in Lacy Washington
Daisy Nevarez and Ashley Zartner on recommendations for volunteers
To read an article about the first year experience by our volunteers on the College of Saint Benedict Web site, click here.
Benedictine Women Service Corps (BWSC)
OUR MISSION
Benedictine Women Service Corps (BWSC), an outreach of Saint Benedict’s Monastery, St. Joseph, Minn., responds to the needs of the church and world, inviting College of Saint Benedict alumnae to join the monastic community in deepening relationships that support justice globally. Formed in the Benedictine Gospel values during their undergraduate, liberal arts education, the volunteers strive to live these values in a new location that will challenge them personally, spiritually and professionally.
VOLUNTEER BENEFITS
- Room and board
- Roundtrip airfare
- Monthly stipend
- Orientation and post-year retreats at Saint Benedict’s Monastery
- Opportunities for meaningful service
LOCATIONS
We are currently building relationships for placement with monasteries in the United States and abroad. Our placements for 2011-12 are at Monasterio Santa Escolastica in Humacao, Puerto Rico and with the Sisters of St. Agnes in Chipole, Tanzania.
REQUIREMENTS
- College of Saint Benedict graduate
- Commitment to serve within the host community for 9–12 months
- Health insurance
- Willingness to participate in fundraising
- Responsive, flexible, compassionate, leadership skills
- You do not have to be Catholic, but you must be willing to participate in some part of the prayer life of the host community
The program consists of a 2-week retreat/orientation prior to departure, 9-12 months of service with the host community and a retreat at the end of the experience.
TO APPLY
Click here to download an application.
CONTACT:
Benedictine Women
Service Corps (BWSC)
Saint Benedict’s Monastery
104 Chapel Lane
St. Joseph, MN 56374
Sister Kerry O'Reilly
Co-coodinator
koreilly@csbsju.edu
320-363-7004
Sister Mary Jane Berger
Co-coordinator
mberger@csbsju.edu
320-363-5066