East L.A. Day 4

East L.A. Day 4 –Devyn

Well you could say we made it to day four with great adventures, tiredness, and scattered sickness throughout the group. On Tuesday, we started our day off with Mass at St. Mary’s. This was the third Mass I have ever been to and it was almost entirely in Spanish until the priest told our group what he was saying in English during the homily. This experience was incredible, and was one I will never forget. After Mass, we decided to walk to Skid Row with the sandwiches and apples that half of the group made in the morning prior to Mass. As we were walking and almost there we noticed some of the tents that were just on the border of the 15 block radius of the government sanctioned homelessness. As we continued walking, we were just about to enter the perimeter of Skid Row when Dan saw a man named Kaleb Havens. Dan talked about Kaleb beforehand as a man who was protesting the government and its lack of affection for the poor and homeless. As we ventured toward Kaleb we noticed that he was lounging in a sun chair with pants and no shirt on, and also had a chain around his waist that was linked around the buildings gate for his protest. Once we stopped in front of him, we introduced ourselves and he welcomed us to stay and chat. We asked him why he had a chain around his waist and he responded with saying that he had it around him as to prevent himself from being moved or moving. He also mentioned that he was fasting the 46 days of lent by eating nothing and only drinking pedialyte and water. To me this was so interesting by the way that he was so willing to give up food and his health for a cause that he believes in more than anything while following the teachings of God, but not being certain if he believed in the existence of God. This really made me think about my own faith and how I apply it to my life and how I live the gospel. Am I striving for God and his greatness or I am I serving the flesh?

East L.A. Day 4-Bret

Last night at dinner our group was sitting at King Taco and when Dan brought up our options for today. We could either go observe the DACA protests, or head to Skid Row and pass out sandwiches. As a Spanish major at Carroll, I have had to take a lot of classes on, not only the Latino language, but its culture as well, and for this reason, I really sympathized with those protesting Trump’s fade out of DACA and wanted to attend the protests. There were a few others in our group who wanted to go as well, but the majority voted for Skid Row, which made me sad. I was excited to serve however I could, and if that meant walking the streets of Skid Row and meeting the people experiencing homelessness in L.A., then I was all for it. Immediately when arriving, we encountered a man named Kaleb Havens who was a Catholic Social Service worker on hunger strike to protest the land banking occurring in the area. He was chained to an empty building that was on Skid Row and not being used for anything except storage when it could be being used as shelter for hundreds living on the street. Many of the realities Kaleb brought to my attention were startling and even angering. One of which was that there is only three working bathrooms or 6 toilets in this 15 block strip designated for the homeless. Six toilets for 3000 to 5000 people on any given day. Talking to Kaleb really set the mood for our time on Skid Row. God revealed himself to me continuously today. I saw him working through our freshman walking down Skid Row, shaking hands with homeless men and women and hearing their stories while handing out sandwiches and apple slices, and Erin nearly buying a convenience store out of pads and tampons to hand out to the women on the streets. I was blown away by the generosity of our group, and the joy the people experiencing homelessness brought to us.

Bret Charlton