"I want to finish high school, go to college, and become a child psychologist. Many times children don't know who to talk to or how to tell somebody what's going on. I want to listen to kids and help them. Everybody has a voice. Everybody deserves to be heard."
Kimberlie: “We’ve known each other since we were children and have been married now for a year and four months. He brings out the best in me and is very encouraging; I’d say he’s my #1 fan. When he had to be out of the country on business for a week, I couldn’t sleep. It just didn’t feel right without him, but as soon as he came back, I felt recharged. Since we’ve known each other for so many years, he knows the dustiest corners of my soul. He can look at me and know what’s going on.”
Gabe: “We went to the same elementary school in Puerto Rico but never imagined that we’d date each other. We started out as friends, which I think was a really good thing. We know each other inside and out, all the bad and all the good, and I think that’s what makes it so easy to be together. We travel together, do stupid things together, and just enjoy each other. She’s fun to be with. Whenever there’s ever anything wrong, she’s there for me. She always has been, even before we were dating. She’s my best friend.” “I love waking up every day and hearing our three children say, ‘Good morning, Mama!’ I love listening to them talk and seeing their smiles. I owe God so much for those lovely gifts he’s given me. They are 8, 7, and 4 years old now, and they've had tons of angels in their lives ever since they were little. They are totally blessed with love, so I expect that them to be angels for someone else someday. Whenever I see them helping others, I feel that I can die with gratitude for them. It’s so important to teach children to be humble, to love each other, and to be thankful. It’s important, especially in the world we live in now, to contemplate God first, to communicate with him every single second of our lives, and to fill our soul buckets so that we can pour that love out to other people.”
"My mother worked in a pants factory, could sew beautifully, and made my majorette uniforms when I was a teenager. She passed that skill on to me, and between her instruction and what I learned in Home Ec classes, I was able to make my own clothes all through high school. Knowing how to sew is a wonderful thing. It allows you to create patterns and design uniquely beautiful clothing. Everyone used to be able to sew, but not too many people do anymore. That's sad to me. I'd love to see it make a comeback among younger people.
"I never lost my interest in sewing, so after getting married and having two children, I went back to school and completed a fiber arts degree at Memphis College of Art. I just fell in love with having my hands in the yarn. I enjoy making scarves and shawls and capes, weaving fabric, and caning chairs. I’m a member of a weavers’ guild, and one of the things I do is help coordinate exhibitions every year. I love to help people see what they can do. It’s one way I can give back to the community." “In big cities like Mexico City and LA, where I lived before, it's easy to feel invisible and not get involved in the community. You tend to think everything is fine, and often you don’t even see the needs. All that changed when I moved to Memphis in 2000. There weren’t many Spanish speakers here then, so anything associated with Latin culture grabbed my attention. I didn’t speak English at all in the beginning, but once my skills improved, I started volunteering as a translator with St. Jude and did that for four years. The hardest part of that work was when I’d have to sit in a room with the doctor and the family of a very sick child and translate to those parents what they never wanted to hear. It was so difficult. Often the family knew what the doctor was going to tell them, but their eyes were fixed on my face, just begging me not to say the words. Nothing can prepare you for delivering news that will devastate a family. Nothing. You can’t change the outcome, you can’t do anything to take away their pain; all you can do is be there and stand beside them. "The work St. Jude does is tremendous, and the company I'm with---FedEx---is one of their big supporters. I thought I was really giving back by volunteering there. I thought I was helping, but it turned out that I got far more than I gave. Seeing those little children with such strength and faith, smiling and playing and happy in spite of the fact that they were very, very sick---it put my problems into perspective.” Francisco: "It's difficult to get a job when you don't speak English, but FedEx gave me a chance when I first moved to Memphis. They saw my potential, hired me, and I've moved up in the company over the years. I appreciate that FedEx makes it possible for me to be involved in all kinds of community activities."
Francisco Cervantes has a degree in architecture and a background in graphic design. He has done translation work for a number of organizations, including the Red Cross and the Memphis Police Department, and works as a Sr. Instructional Development Specialist with FedEx. The FedEx Corporation is very active in the Memphis community and is a huge supporter of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. As a member of various boards and organizations, Francisco helps others get involved and give back to our city and our world.
"There was a bookmobile that came around to our apartments when I was a kid, and they had a contest: whoever read the most books would win a bicycle. I was eight years old and didn't know how to ride a bike yet, but my brother did and he wanted one, so he talked me into entering. The plan was for me to read and for him to get the prize. I thought the cookbooks looked interesting, so I started checking them out, reading, and experimenting. My first attempts at cooking were disasters. I remember trying to make fried chicken and spaghetti, but they were so awful nobody would touch them. Then I bought different sized pans from the thrift store and tried to make a wedding cake. Nobody could eat it either, but I kept trying. About a year into the experimentation, my mom realized I was serious, so she started teaching me things in the kitchen and I began helping her cook for events at church. I spent the summer I was nine helping my aunt cater weddings. From there things escalated, and now I’m a chef at Caritas Village. I love what I do. I love how food can take people to places they may never be able to go and allow them to experience other cultures, other ethnicities. I love how food connects us to each other in ways we might not otherwise connect. I don’t have one particular dish that’s my favorite to cook. I enjoy making everything. Sometimes people ask, ‘What’s your secret?’ I think the secret is the love and the passion I pour into what I do.” Some of Eli's work below. Photo credit: Caritas Village FB page. Chef Elijah Townsend, Culinary Artist-in-Residence at Caritas Village, 2509 Harvard
See more photos of Eli's dishes and the lunch menus for the week on the Caritas FB page. "When I grow up, I want to be a discovery man who finds fossils. Fossils are in the desert, and you get all the dirt off them with a paintbrush. I want to find a whole Velociraptor skeleton and an Ultrasaurus with its headbone connected to its neckbone."
"I've suffered from depression for as long as I can remember. I wasn't officially diagnosed until I was 18 and wasn't medicated until I after I was sent to the hospital at 25 because of a severe anxiety attack brought on by unchecked and rampant depression. Even before I was diagnosed, I knew what I had, but I didn't understand it any more than my family did. I was young when the words started---few at first, but over time I kept hearing the same ones again and again, and two particular phrases always stung more than the others: one, when I was the 'good' version of myself, family and friends would say 'See! This is the Annie we like!' as if there were two of me and only one was acceptable. Another was: 'You just need to grow up.' "It wasn't until I was an adult that I realized I had a real illness that caused me to act certain ways and make certain choices that other people might not. As I worked towards my Master's degree in graphic design, I created this particular piece to help bridge the communication gap between depressive and non-depressive people and hopefully change the way we talk about mental illness. I want this work to start conversations about chronic depression and for those who feel they have no voice to know that someone is truly listening." Annie solicited community input in designing her For the Dragonfly installation piece: Annie Lynne, Graphic Designer and MFA graduate (Memphis College of Art)
Dragonfly project: http://forthedragonfly.org Website: http://www.annielynne.com Read Annie's bio here: http://www.annielynne.com/#about “The best thing about working at the Brooks is the people I meet every day and the stories they share. One of the most moving encounters, to me, was when a gentleman from California visited the museum. He was in Memphis not just to sightsee but also to explore his father’s roots. His dad had just recently passed away, and the son wanted to see the house where his dad had grown up, the school he’d attended, and the places he might have enjoyed as a child. Since I’ve lived in Memphis all of my life, I was able to help direct him to some of those spots, especially the ones in Midtown. At one point he was so overwhelmed that he started crying. I think it meant a lot to him to reconnect with his father’s past, and I was really glad I could be a part of that. “I love working here, and I love how the Brooks is about both art and community. We reach out to different groups and have a lot of events that bring people together. One thing we’ve started recently is our free Wednesdays. There’s no admission charge that day, and we’re open until 8 at night. People are coming who might not otherwise visit a museum, and once they see what's here, many of them realize that they like art a lot better than they thought they would.” At the Brooks: Laura Tims, Visitor Services Manager
Email: laura.tims@brooksmuseum.org Visit the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art at 1934 Poplar. Visitor Information HERE “I was two years old when my mother committed suicide, but I was 18 before I found out that’s how she died. I only knew that I didn’t have a mother like my classmates did, and although I did well in school, I felt lonely and different. Losing her left such a big hole in my life. My other relatives pitied me and said: ‘Pobrecita!’ (Spanish for ‘You poor thing!’) You won’t be able to make anything of yourself now.’ “I still had my father though. He was a medical doctor, a kind and generous man who treated patients whether or not they had money. People paid him with cakes, chickens, Easter eggs, English lessons for me - anything. He and I delivered babies together and he made me feel so important. He taught me how to give back and was paying my way through medical school when he got very sick. He worried about what would happen to me after he was gone because I wouldn’t be able to afford to continue my studies. He thought my life would be over. It was true that I had to drop out of school when he died, but I didn’t give up. I got a job working 14 hours a day to support myself, and that job is where I met a man from America who was studying in Buenos Aires. When it came time for him to return to the States, he asked me to come with him. At first, I refused, but when he continued to press me, I agreed to at least visit and get to know his family. We were married for seven years, and in that time I completed a B.A., an M.A., and a PhD at Ohio State University. Doing that gave me the opportunity to teach, which I’ve done for five years now. “After a traumatic event such as the loss of a parent or a really hard beginning, some people just give up. Others feel challenged to defy the low expectations and turn that experience into a positive thing. It’s called post-traumatic growth. I think that’s what happened to me. I wanted to prove wrong the relatives who said I wouldn’t amount to anything. Yes, I lost my mother, but I was determined not to throw my life away. In my classes here at the U of M, I try to communicate to my students that no matter where they come from, no matter what limits people put on them, no matter their circumstances, they have the power to change their lives. In many countries of the world, there is so much poverty; people struggle just to have food to eat every day. But in America, there is access to the support and resources people need to create opportunities for themselves, mentors will help them, and through the Internet, the world is at their fingertips. I tell my students that even if no one else believes in them, I believe in them. I want them to know how important each one of them is. I also want them to know how important it is to give back, to contribute their ideas, their time, and their skills to help others. In Argentina, people often take food with them on the train from one place to another. If they don’t eat it all, if they have an unopened bag of chips or package of cookies left, they leave it for the people who will come aboard at the next station. If you find it, you know it’s been left for you. That’s something I want my students to learn: Pack your bag for the journey. Equip yourself. Take and use what you need, but don’t forget there are others coming along behind. Give back to them.” Diana will be participating in the Holiday Market at Caritas Village (2509 Harvard) on Friday and Saturday, December 4 & 5, 2015 (10am-6pm both days), selling some of her hand-crafted jewelry (samples below) to benefit Centrol Cultural, the Latino Cultural Community Center. Teaching Philosophy: Service Learning Project: Diana Ruggiero, Assistant Professor of Spanish for the Professions, U of M
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March 2021
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