Joshua Johnson's story:

Last  summer, I was be one of twelve Loyola Marymount University students with the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to spend part of summer break immersed in the culture of Franco Bidó, Dominican Republic—engaging in service and learning about the social and economic challenges faced by this rural community such as poverty, free vs. fair trade, and globalization.  We also learned first-hand of the experiences and challenges faced by immigrants from Haiti who come to the D.R. in search of a better quality of life and are unfortunately faced with equal poverty, political corruption, and scarce, menial jobs.  We lived and worked alongside families who are coffee farmers and shared their experiences in all the labor-intensive work that goes into coffee farming. We took part in several projects to empower this community but primarily became more aware and exposed ourselves to realities that were foreign to us as well as generated active solidarity between the residents of Franco Bidó and the LMU community.  As participants in the Alternative Break (AB) Program, I decided to spend part of my summer break traveling beyond my own backyard in order to gain an expansive perspective on the world and myself, while keeping in mind the goal of encouraging my classmates, friends, families, and coworkers who did not have the opportunity to visit the D.R. to share in the wealth of knowledge and commitment to service I returned with.  I personally am so committed that I applied and was accepted to go on this trip a second time, my first time being in March 2006 and the second in May 2006.  It was truly life-changing, eye-opening, and not only redefined what "poverty" means to me, but redefined "wealth," and made me see all the blessings I was born into that most of the world does not have.  The families we interacted with, who had such a strong sense of unity and love for not only each other but also for us students, moved me to realize how blessed I am and how I can be a man truly for others by learning about their lives through service, and cultivating and maintaining relationships.  Seeing people endure such unfair treatment and being forced to work extremely hard just to earn a few pennies a day made me realize, before my own eyes, that it is no longer acceptable for me to just stand by and watch, without doing anything.    I found my true passion: to serve others.  I was motivated to serve God by means of serving His people who are too easily ignored.  There is no better opportunity, in my opinion, to put the full mission of Loyola Marymount University into real action.  I went to the D.R. thinking I was bringing them help, not realizing the tremendous ways the Dominican families there would help me to redefine who I am and help me to see my own true purpose and how I had been blind, until that moment, of the ways my choices in the U.S. were affecting people across the world.

Kids in Cien Fuegos (a nearby community) fighting to be photographed

Joshua and a coffee farmer’s son
in Franco Bidó

Domingo, a farmer, explains the coffee fields