About Our Volunteers

Gaining a greater sense of self through volunteering

Christine Silva moved in with the sisters living at the ?Come and See? house in Yakima, Wash., and volunteered as an art teacher?s assistant at St. Joseph/Marquette School.

Later she was invited to go to El Salvador with a group from Providence Health System. She learned to know the people and their culture, making many friends.

Christine helped build a cinderblock house and was able to keep the children entertained with the beads, string and coloring materials she had brought on the trip.

In Spain, studying some of her favorite subjects

Today, Christine is in college in Spain, studying some of her favorite subjects: humanities, art, language and international studies.

She insists that she got much more out of the volunteer experience than she gave, including ?a greater awareness of self and sort of what I am, and the reality of what?s going on in the world.?

Today she is ?much more mindful of how I live my life here and how everything I do affects other people.?

She describes living with the Sisters of Providence as ?a totally amazing experience. They are so different from each other but they get along, appreciating each gift each one has. They don?t try to hide their humanness.?