One phone call in the middle of class changed Danielle Alio’s plans for summer vacation, and her life, more than she could have ever imagined.
“I was very, very shocked when I got the phone call because you’re thinking, ‘This is a national competition.’ There are entries from all over the world so everybody is making a video,” Alio said.
Alio, a senior communication major, produced a three-minute video on different stories she has covered for Cabrini promoting the common good. Alio’s video highlighted those affected by the earthquake in Haiti, the crisis in Sudan, the need for education in Swaziland and the work the Spanish ECG class has been doing.
“Many people were sharing their experiences and services saying ‘This is what I do,’ and I was thinking I hadn’t done much community service,” Alio said. “My service was putting together these articles and video pieces for our student media outlets to educate others whereas there were tons of other people who actually went out and helped. Maybe in a soup kitchen or volunteer here and there and I haven’t really done those things. I didn’t think I had a chance at winning. When I got the call I was very excited. Excitement is an understatement.”
Despite her doubts, she was awarded a free two-week trip to tour South Korea and Taiwan with the Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers.
“It was an opportunity to see the world,” Alio said.
The Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers are an American Catholic organization that, for nearly 100 years, has been reaching out to those in the world who are the most in need.
Along with excitement and anticipation, Alio still had to convince her parents to allow her to travel half-way around the world.
“At first my family was a little bit nervous because I had never been away from home without my family or without really close friends. Especially because I had never been 10,000 miles away from home. I had never left the continent without my family or friends so they were really nervous,” Alio said. “When you think about foreign countries you think about the problems first before the experience. They think of the risks.”
A phone conversation and a visitation with the Maryknoll priest Alio would be traveling with settled their nerves and allowed her parents to see the positives that would come from this trip.
Alio left Maryknoll at 10 a.m. on July 7. Two plane rides, a layover, a bus ride and 18 hours later, Alio was finally at the Maryknoll house in Taipei, Taiwan. Learning to use chopsticks would be just one of the difficulties Alio would encounter on her day in Taichung center. She soon learned the stories of the oppressed Filipino migrant workers. The struggles they faced were so similar to the struggles Mexican migrant workers face in the United States. Physical and sexual abuse, low wages and long stretches of time away from family occurred even halfway around the world.
“One of my favorite parts was interacting with the Maryknoll missionaries,” Alio said. “Being with the brothers and sisters who were over there doing that work, they are very inspiring people and I admire them for what they do. They dedicate their entire lives to living in these foreign countries. And the people love them.”
When interviewing as a finalist, Alio explained she wanted to see the people in their own environment and speak to them first-hand. She was hoping for an eye-opening experience.
“You hear about the sweatshops and you hear about the low pay and you hear about the people who make our electronics but to meet them first-hand? It’s all very different. To see the wounds on their hands and the scars from manually putting together things. They don’t have machinery over there that acts as an assembly line. They do it all by hand. To see them, and to meet the people, it was really humbling,” Alio said.
The people she met and the journey she was able to experience have inspired Alio to continue her knowledge of world issues. Her faith and hope are stronger after meeting people in despair who continue to work with smiles on their faces.
“The missionaries are relied on and it was great to see their relationship in action. The one brother who works in Taiwan with the Filipino migrant workers, he is their rock,” Alio said. “Their faith in God is number one, the brothers and the sisters and the workers and their faith is what keeps them going. It’s inspiring,” Alio said.
“Because of Cabrini, I was able to make these pieces to put together and submit. Without Cabrini I would never have met the Swaziland missionaries or Malual, the Lost Boy of Sudan,” Alio said. “I wouldn’t have had the initiative. I was able to learn about these issues first which gave me the drive to want to learn about them more. I was given the opportunities to meet real, live people who experienced all these things. I have a feeling that is hard for me to describe. It is almost like a feeling of fulfillment.”
