for college students by college students

Global Justice

Experience in Peru proves how toxic indifference can be.

By Jamie Gorosh

A

Going Pink!

Four 2010 graduates of Akiva. Hebrew Day School in
Southfield who are participating in gap-year programs
in Israel took part in the first Susan G. Koman Race for
the Cure walk in Israel on Oct. 28. They walked as part
of Team Shasheret, sponsored by the New jersey-based
nonprofit organization that supports Jewish women
with breast cancer. The local students are Ruthie
Lehmann of West Bloomfield, Midreshet HaRova;
Gabriella Herschfus of Southfield, Midreshet Tiferet;
Michal Wrotslaysky and Molly Goldmeier, Midreshet
HaRova, both of Southfield; and Naomi Greenbaum of
Southfield, Midreshet Ein HaNatziv, who made aliyah
and will enter the army next spring. All are age 18.

uthor and Holocaust survivor
Elie Wiesel once wrote, "The
opposite of love is not hate,
it's indifference." I first read
these words as I sat in the small village of
Lurinchincha, Peru, with 17 peers from
diverse backgrounds.
This eclectic group was brought
together this summer by American Jewish
World Service (AJWS), an organization
that pursues social justice in the Global
South (countries mostly in the Southern
Hemisphere with low to medium human
development indexes) through grant mak-
ing to grassroots organizations.
We partnered with a non-governmental
organization (NGO) called Asociacion
Civil Pro Nifio Intimo (ACPNI) in Peru.
This NGO works on youth development
and empowerment through street soc-
cer. Our goal was to devote seven weeks
to build a community center, learn about
issues of global injustices, work with com-
munity members and become immersed in
Peruvian culture.
As the end of the trip drew near, I knew

it would not only be difficult to part with
my fellow participants, but also the people
of Lurinchinca. Knowing I would never see
these people again was a difficult notion.
The adults had graciously opened their
homes to us, and the kids had opened their
hearts at our weekly English lessons. We
had set up projects in their school, bakery
and health clinic, and played a ton of soc-
cer in addition to our main work project.
Our departure felt far too abrupt.
As I left a place that had come to feel
like home, I knew I faced an important
decision. I could go back to the U.S. and
seamlessly return to my (by comparison)
privileged lifestyle with its hot showers,
restaurants and washing machines. I could
tell people how unbelievable it was that
people permanently live the way we did
for seven weeks, and I could have left the
experience at that.
But no, I wasn't about to become indif-
ferent to the suffering that exists today
in the world the minute I was no longer
personally exposed to it. As I seek to make
sense of my shifting worldviews, I realize

Be inspired by your surroundings.

Wayne State University offers you a degree that will set you apart from the crowd for two key reasons: our
faculty and our students. We know that if you want to do extraordinary things, you have to surround yourself
with extraordinary people. Like our Dream Team, four students who reached the finals of the 2010 Microsoft
U.S. Imagine Cup by collaborating to create a virtual medical clinic that can be used worldwide. At Wayne State,
the students you learn with have a passion for changing the world around them. These are the people who can
inspire you to reach your personal potential. Visit wayne.edu to give yourself the opportunity to he inspired.

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