Student Exemplifies SLU Mission as Woman For Others
25 Feb 2008
by: Lauren Olson
As Rachel McCullagh watched a group of children rummage through mounds of trash filling a city dump in Nicaragua, she came to an eye-opening realization: These kids weren't just looking for used toys, they were living in this landfill.
Standing in that Nicaraguan dump, McCullagh vowed to change things for the homeless boys and girls in front of her.
"No one deserves to live like this," McCullagh said. "No one."
Wandering through garbage in Nicaragua on a Saint Louis University theology summer immersion program is just one way McCullagh has opened her eyes to the importance of social justice and diversity. Growing up with a father of Irish descent and a mother from the Philippines, McCullagh's childhood overflowed with cultural distinction. To add to her worldliness, she was born in Malaysia and has lived in seven different countries - mostly Third World - before her family settled in the United States when she was 12.
McCullagh, a senior from Sugar Land, Texas, is putting her diverse upbringing to work with her three majors: international business, international studies and Spanish, plus a minor in theology.
"My friends always make fun of me because I'm so all over the place," McCullagh said. "I'm just so passionate about so many things!"
Another passion of McCullagh's can be found outside of the classroom, between the lines of the tennis court. As a member of the Billiken tennis team, she ranks 13th on the SLU singles career win list and 16th on the doubles win list.
Still, it's service, not serves, that gets McCullagh most excited.
As a theology minor, McCullagh stumbled upon an opportunity that transformed her life: the Mev Puleo Scholarship. Puleo (A&S '85) brought awareness to the dignity of the poor by living in solidarity among the people of Latin America. At the age of 32, Puleo's voice for the underprivileged was silenced by a malignant brain tumor. In her honor, Puleo's parents established a scholarship that would send SLU students to Nicaragua in hopes that recipients would become advocates for social justice.
With the scholarship and her acquired classroom knowledge about what it means to be a woman for others, McCullagh was prepared to fulfill the hopes of the Puleo family.
Summer in Nicaragua
Voluntarily leaving behind the comforts of the United States, McCullagh immersed herself in the Nicaraguan culture for two months this summer. She lived with a family of eight in a small house that had no air conditioning or running water. Every morning she woke up, sweat dripping down her back and bugs crawling on the floor. Every day she ate a bowl of rice and beans for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
"You learn the most by living someone else's life - by putting yourself in someone else's shoes," McCullagh said.
Lacing up a pair of her own shoes every morning at 5:30 a.m., McCullagh began her daily routine with a jog along a dirt path through the city. By 7:30 a.m. she was taking a 15-cent bus ride to work in one of the most dangerous neighborhoods outside of Managua, the capital of Nicaragua.
McCullagh spent her mornings working with a group of children, ages 2 through 10, at a tutoring program. In addition to teaching basic letters and numbers, she was in charge of feeding the children, most of whom were malnourished. She was often handed a 10-pound bag of rice with the task of removing anything that moved.
"I picked out animals, anything from small mice to one-inch ants," McCullagh said. "I thought, 'I can't cook this food for these kids.' But they don't have anything else. They have to eat it."
McCullagh was experiencing everything a Third World country had to offer, both the good and bad, when her Nicaraguan routine was drastically interrupted.
After treating her host family to dinner at a restaurant with a $20 bill, which would have been enough to feed that family for a week, a queasiness came over McCullagh. Things took a turn for the worse the following morning, as she passed out at church and awoke in the hospital. Diagnosed with an intestinal and urinary tract infection caused by parasites in the food or water, she was given antibiotics and sent back to her host family.
"I realized how lucky I was that I had enough money to go to the hospital," she said. "If I were a Nicaraguan, I couldn't have done that."
Through her illness, McCullagh learned the true meaning of dependence.
"I've never been in a state where I couldn't take care of myself," McCullagh recalled. "I would sit up in bed and get sick all over the floor, and my host mother would clean it up. This lady had nothing. She stood over me, held me and fanned me with a piece of paper just to make me feel a little bit better.
"They don't have much to give, but everything they have, they're just so happy to give to you."
Out of concern, McCullagh's father flew to Nicaragua with the intent of returning to America with his only daughter. With three weeks of the trip left, McCullagh was faced with a difficult decision: return to the States for a proper recovery or struggle through her illness and complete her mission to help Nicaraguans in need.
"I really wanted to finish my experience. My parents really wanted me to come home," McCullagh said.
"I decided to stay."
A New Perspective
In the end, McCullagh's decision to finish what she started gave her a new perspective.
After two months in a Third World country, McCullagh still describes herself as passionate, but now, she said, with a healthy dose of practicality. Some advocates of social justice strive to make a difference through protests, grassroots organizations or the Peace Corps. McCullagh has a different path in mind. She hopes to use her SLU John Cook School of Business degree to initiate economic change across the globe.
"The problem with Nicaragua is that they have no way to make money, except sweatshops," she said. "They have no oil, poor leadership and few exports."
Inspired by her SLU education and her summer abroad, McCullagh feels a newfound obligation to solve that problem.
"If you want to actually make change, you need a profession," she said. "Volunteering is great, but having the tools to make a difference is key."
By working to support initiatives such as NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement) or CAFTA (Central American Free Trade Agreement), McCullagh believes she can pioneer policy change and improve the standard of living in Third World countries.
Walking along the dirt roads and through the city dump of Nicaragua, McCullagh made a promise to herself and to humanity that just might change the future:
"No one should live without running water or electricity," she said. "That should be a standard.
"No one should live in a trash dump. That should be a standard."
If McCullagh has anything to say about it, it will.
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