Continuing Change

Maggie Masse, of Bristol RI, uncovered a call for volunteer work  in a small, Nicaraguan village.

Masse and a group of 19 volunteers, with The Mustard Seeds Community Project, crossed US borders in order to aid two orphanages in the summer of 2013.

“It was so changing and unbelievable,” said Massie, a sophomore, Journalism student at Suffolk University. “It was the best week of my life.”

In her short 20 years, Masse has been on numerous volunteer projects. Involved with her local church, Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, in Bristol, she has been involved with charity projects as well as Vacation Bible School for young children.

In the summer of 2009, Masse, along with younger sister Emily, traveled to West Virginia where they served in food and clothing drives.

“Since then, I knew I wanted to do [volunteering],” Masse said.

Though if you asked Masse about her most impactful trip, with a tear in her eye, she would tell you about Nicaragua.

“I’ve never been that happy,” Massie says of her Nicaragua trip. “I cry every time I talk about it.”

Masse and her peers set out with a mission: to help others, selflessly. But Masse said “they helped me so much more than I helped them.”

That said, the group did achieve their goal of servicing others.  For a week, her volunteer group worked to create better living conditions for the kids in two Nicaraguan orphanages.Nicaragua is the second poorest country in the Western Hemisphere.

A typical day began at 6:30am with a religious mass. Then followed breakfast. And for 8 hours, with only a short lunch break, the volunteers worked on rebuilding a community center for the children and their teachers.

The children were more than appreciative, and in showing their love, Masse was even “married” to 15-year-old Brian, with a balloon string.

She also recalls 3-year-old Manuel as “the sweetest boy” she had ever met.

The experience was not without sadness however. “A lot of these kids came from abusive families,” said Masse. Upon reflection she said it made her grateful for her parents.

When asked where her passion grew from, Masse mentions one important role model. When Nelson Mandela, former president of South Africa, died last December Masse was in shock.

“[His death] was really sad, because it was one less person doing that kind of work,” Masse said.

She said Mandela’s passion despite very serious oppression and discrimination gives her hope for the world. She said, “You have to keep going, even if you feel like you aren’t making a huge difference.”

Though she is interested in becoming a sports writer, Masse said Mandela’s death made her “even more inspired to help people.”

Upon graduating from Suffolk, Masse says she has plans to do volunteer work in Africa and Jamaica.

Masse believes the spirit of volunteering can touch the life of any person, and if you have the opportunity you should seize it.

“Just go out and do it. Life begins outside your comfort zone,” Massie concluded.