It took a trip to the other side of the world for me to realize that sometimes, solidarity just means being there. Our team spent a little more than a week in rural Tamil Nadu, in the southern part of India. Much of our time was spent at Loyola Higher Secondary School where we taught for one day, but much of our time on campus was spent with Dalit, or “untouchable,” children.
Before our flight took off we were given the routine instruction to turn off our cell phones, for me it marked the beginning of a week of detachment from technology, my daily routine and life as I formerly knew it. As I prepared to power down my phone I received one last text message.
Verbum Dei High School students and faculty joined seven other schools at the Ignatian Solidarity Network’s Arrupe Leaders Summit from January 18-20, 2013. The Arrupe Leadership Summit invited emerging student leaders for social justice to spend a weekend strengthening their capacity to effect positive social change while deepening their understanding of the relationship between faith and justice emphasized in the spirituality of St. Ignatius of Loyola.
