In the early morning, Shemesh de Leon Baez ’16 navigates his way onto the overcrowded bus and settles in for the hour-long ride across Quito, Ecuador. As a teacher, he is used to waking up early, perhaps too early, and doesn’t plan to be home until after 7:00pm. He teaches both children and adults alike, running many programs throughout the day. As he makes his way into the heart of the city, he knows he has another long commute ahead of him before he will be home for family dinner. And yet, making this trip into Old Quito every morning is still as moving for him as it was the first time he set foot in Ecuador's capital with his friends from Le Moyne, as it is for him now as a full-time.
De Leon Baez is spending the year volunteering at the Working Boys’ Center, where he served as a student-leader on Service Immersion Trips with Campus Ministry. “Ecuador changed my perspective on life forever,” he says. “I love and admire the Working Boys’ Center’s mission—I didn't think there was a better place in the world where I could serve.”
The Working Boys’ Center, founded by Fr. John Halligan, S.J., provides dental and medical care, daily meals, a day care, and educational programs for all ages. Since its founding in 1964, it has served over 30,000 people, and has expanded into two centers in different parts of Quito, creating more family-oriented programs and reaching more people. De Leon Baez’s responsibilities as a Jesuit Volunteer have expanded too: he now teaches special education, English, health and adult literacy classes. He also leads a Girls’ Program, teaching literacy, hygiene, technology and craft-making. “The families and the children all put their best foot forward and are able to move out of poverty because of the work done here,” says de Leon Baez. “I've had the privilege to see the fruit of their work.”
His most memorable experience in Ecuador came during a Campus Ministry trip, which compelled him to return as a Jesuit Volunteer upon graduation. “While I was on a house visit for guest volunteers, I remember vividly running away in near tears when I saw the conditions a family lived in,” he says. “Sewage ran by the front door—just the smell of this family’s home was enough to change my heart. At that point, I decided that I needed to help people, not only Ecuadorians, but people.”
Even though de Leon Baez has been to Ecuador with Le Moyne twice before, he is still moved by the new experiences he encounters each day. “I’m an adventurer, so I’ve been looking at everything with an open mind,” says de Leon Baez. “There are so many things that I have been fortunate enough to experience as an American—I cannot possibly keep all of it to myself. My time in Ecuador has been amazing so far; everyone should visit at least once.”
Article by Calvin Craig '18.
Craig is interning with the Offices of Communications and Advancement this semester.
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