Emily Schario
  • Communication Studies
  • Class of 2018
  • Auburn, ME

Auburn Native Emily Schario Spending Spring Break Helping Others

2015 Mar 4

Auburn native Emily Katherine Schario will be traveling to Peru next week during Stonehill College's spring break as apart of its H.O.P.E. Service Immersion Program.

While in Peru, participants will encounter a variety of social justice issues including poverty, education, and access to natural resources. HOPE Peru works with a local school called Fe y Alegria and a center for children with physical and intellectual disabilities founded by the Holy Cross Congregation called Yancana Huasy, where participants will offer their time and presence. The experience as a whole is largely focused on gaining an understanding of the immense poverty Peru. Close relationships developed with locals also provides participants with the opportunity to see past the poverty and be exposed to the generosity, compassion, and love that is inherent within the community of Canto Grande.

Students who participate in the H.O.P.E. program form community with one another during the five months leading up to their trip. They learn about the culture, history and issues of social injustice in the communities they are destined to visit and serve.

The trips themselves are truly immersive experiences, challenging students to engage the four tenets of H.O.P.E.:

  • Honoring our neighbor
  • Organizing for justice
  • Practicing peace
  • Encountering God

Upon their return, students are encouraged to reflect on their experiences and to integrate the pursuit of social justice into their day-to-day lives.

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Stonehill is a selective Catholic college located near Boston on a beautiful 384-acre campus in Easton, Massachusetts. With a student-faculty ratio of 13:1, the College engages over 2,500 students in 80+ rigorous academic programs in the liberal arts, sciences, and pre-professional fields. The Stonehill community helps students to develop the knowledge, skills, and character to meet their professional goals and to live lives of purpose and integrity.