Welcome Home!

One of our volunteers from February wrote an awesome article about her Nazareth Farm trip for her school paper. We hope you enjoy her words as much as we did.
Nazareth Farm Mission Trip, By Isabel

 "Welcome home!" That's the first gesture that eight youthful staff team members welcomed the seven of us as we arrived to West Virginia on that first night. After a hilarious eight hour car ride from Connecticut that morning, Mrs. Gostic, Ms. Boiselle, Amanda, Brendan, Maria, Kaila, and I were more than ready and curious as to what this week would bring. From the very start that night we were invited in and given the utmost hospitality, great new friends, amazing food, and renewed thought for the journey home.

Nazareth Farm was an experience of a lifetime. The week brought us to see life differently: I appreciate things more, from simply flushing toilets to being able to take indoor showers. The days were filled: working at different worksites, building a duck barn right on the farm for the spring, repairing the houses in nearby towns, like the paneling in Robert’s room or the ceiling in Jeanie’s house.

We were accompanied by two amazing groups from Kellenburg in Long Island, NY and boys from Louisville, KY. The face that all of us came from different places gave us plenty to talk about from the start, from discussing whether or not KFC actually tasted good to how the Kellenburg girls pronounced certain words. We got to bond with the staff members: listening to Jordan’s stories about hitchhiking, hearing Robby play his guitar, helping Kristina make the delicious food, playing with Kate and Matt’s beautiful children, Jonah and Audrey, and listening to how passionate Susan and Allyson are about the farm, and playing Ninja and Flip ‘Ems with Zack.

When we weren’t working or making new friends, we were having gatherings about Catholic Social Teaching and the history of West Virginia, teaching us to better appreciate and understand the importance of protecting the environment. The staff at Nazareth Farm really lived out the Catholic Social Teachings, and while many in my religion class can attest to having memorized them backwards and forwards, I had never quite met people who stuck true to them. At the Farm, the hot chocolate and coffee were Fair-trade, meaning that the company provided the workers fair wages for their labor. The Farm made sure to preserve water too; they shower three times a week, and often in what is referred to as bucket showers. Believe it or not, I learned that week that it is possible to shower with 5 gallons of water, regardless of the fact that most people tend to waste 30 gallons on average of water per shower. The staff at the Farm also pushed the concept of finishing everything on your plate and only taking what you know you’ll eat. Often in the consumerist society we live in, we tend to overdo and overfull, and end up wasting a lot. These people were doing just the opposite, along with having a hefty compost and eating lots of vegetables and fruits that were in season.

 The week in West Virginia helped give me new perspective. I got to see the lives of people, some who were so hurt by poverty or illness, smile at the simplicity in which they lived. There’s nothing quite like the spirit the natives of West Virginia, and they are truly some of the most open, free, and hospitable people I’ve come across in my life. For that week, I really did feel at home with where I was, living in solidarity with people who I had never met, finally being able to properly nail and complete a closet paneling with the help of Jarred, feeling that the little I may have accomplished for these people left them with a brand new wall and a smile on their faces that day. That’s what counted. This mission trip was absolutely enriching and the only drawback was not being to stay longer! So if any of you Naz staff members end up reading this one day, just know your sacrifice in living on the Farm is well appreciated, and slowly but surely, we’ll be comin’ atcha for another visit!