Required Reading

Half the Sky by Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn

The End of Poverty by Jeffrey Sachs

Mountains Beyond Mountains by Tracy Kidder

The Theology of the Hammer by Millard Fuller

Last Week Announcements

Students

1) The veteran Biloxi students would like to have a half hour of your time to make
the trip better for you.

We will meet at 11:45 am....after your last exam in the back of the cafeteria.
This should not be a long meeting, but will be if we have to wait for you.

Please be there, if you cannot be there, please make arrangements to be there.

If you still cannot be there--talk to me tomorrow Tuesday.I will be in the building..

2) We are working hard to collect forms, insurance cards and contact info and
a few more payments.
If you are missing these, please see Mr. Magee tomorrow.

3) At 8:00 a.m. in the EAC, we will have a short less than 15 minute prayer
service before we leave.

Please invite your parents, who are dropping you off to attend this service.

You are expected to be on the back parking lot by 7:45 am on Saturday...

4) Also, Remember we are bringing underwear and socks for the homeless to MS.


5) I will be sending out a more formal email to your parents as soon as the last car details are complete..

Making a House a Home

I have seen the same pictures of Nerinx students working on installing drywall at 397 Howard a hundred times now. They are great pictures of what is done on this trip, but these "before" pictures pale in comparison to the "after" pictures.

I spent 10 minutes in the home of Ms. Nguyen, and 15 minutes on the porch of Mrs. Fields, but those moments really reinforced why we do this trip. I do not know who we will run into this year, whether it will be sweet, sunny Southern friendliness of a Mrs. Fields or the the always smiling resiliency and courage of Mrs. Nguyen. But each house has its own story, and each person their own tale. It is the simple act of reaching out, of the humility of putting others first, that we will try to succeed again in accomplishing this year.

So take a look at Maggie Herr(Magilla) and Megan Manuel (Mega)on a ladder, but then also of the home right above it.


John Magee

Biloxi 2010 !!!

Students and Parents,

It is time to start thinking and preparing on how you are going to best use your talents to share with our friends in Biloxi. My goals for you are quite simple, I want to introduce to you a lifetime of service. If you talk with any of the people who have gone in the past, you will find that Biloxi and their experiences are still very much in their heart and thoughts.

This is something you can do. If you think about the best thing you have ever done in your life, my expectations for you on May 30th are beyond that mark. The amazing thing is that every year I say this challenge, so many students not only go beyond their best, but go beyond...WAY BEYOND... my expectations.

That is your challenge to equal the tradition that the previous classes have established.

Thanks for the words, Antje

Someone is tossing petals in a stream
Somewhere someone is standing at the foothills of their dreams
Someone got a paintbrush, is painting over doubts
Someone opened up his eyes and saw the sun coming out
Someone was captive and found the courage to get off
From a boulder in the well, somewhere the rain has stopped
Someone is finding the place where they belong

Antje Duvekot "Merry-Go-Round"

a.k.a.

The first song on the 2009 Biloxi Slide Show

"We Come to Help, and We Come to Listen"

"We come to help, and we come to listen. If we listen with our ears open, then the needs of total strangers, can become the requests of new friends."

So said the t-shirt from last year. In a v-neck no less, because, "Mr. Magee, v-necks are the coolest. Don't you know that????"

I asked the next group of prospective carpenters, painters, scrapers, crap haulers, and water girls to reflect on this statement when they signed up to be a part of our trip.

Here are some of their words.

"I believe in the "stranger"; I believe in myself" and most importantly, I believe in the unity of US together." student Class of '11

"A true example of someone who has seen the needs of others and has sacrificed so much to help them is my dad." student Class of '11

"Service is not what I hope to do one day but rather my everyday actions and purpose for living." student Class of '11

"I don't want to build a house, I want to make a home"

"I will bring an open heart,good attitude, and my loretto values of community, respect, faith and justice."


We will be ready, will you?

John Magee

Biloxi 2010

We will meet tomorrow Wednesday in the EAC. I keep trying to make this trip better. This year all students that want to be a part of this trip will be required to write a short essay, about why they want to come. This assignment should not take more than an hour, so don't fret about it.

Becky Dale, NH '08, was asked the same question about why she should be selected to be a roadie this summer for Invisible Children.

Here is one of the most incredible essays I have ever read, not to discourage you, but to realize that this is what Nerinx students can do. This is what one Nerinx student did.

"There's a great big world out there. It's a beautiful world filled with the laughter of children and the spray of water crashing on rocks and creatures yet undiscovered stalking through the underbrush of some long-forgotten rainforest. It's a sad world filled with the uncomforted tears of mothers and the hatred of brothers and the accidents of those who throw caution to the wind. It's an exciting world filled with wonder and adventure and incredible impossibilities. I love that world.

I am here to learn--to see the majesty of that world wherever I am, to hear the words and the stories of the people who walk it, to recognize the similarities between us.

I am here to face a challenge--a personal challenge to keep fighting, a greater challenge to promote change, even greater to inspire.

I am here because I was changed and challenged years ago. I was shown a beautiful world so different from my own and invited to be a part of it. I am here to join that world making it a part of who I am and to share it with everyone I meet.

I am here to love and to hopefully bring peace."


Good luck in your reflection, discovery, and writing.

Thanks for your participation and your interest,

John Magee