Student Project Helps El Salvadorian Children
Fahima Israt
Issue date: 3/21/07 Section: Features
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Everyone comes to college for a reason: some are just floating through life, some are determined to find themselves and their calling in life, and others come for an education with the hopes of exchanging the gained knowledge for a future job that will inquire them an extensive bank account. For junior Damien Germino, his reasoning for attending Manhattan College was its proximity to Manhattan and the college's community. What he did not know was that he was about to attend a college that encompassed a tradition that he already began upholding.
Since the age of fifteen, Germino has been halfway around the world on a mission with the Huellas, a not-for-profit religious group, helping impoverished women and children in El Salvador. This is done through his self designed and self-named D.A.M.I.E.N. Project.
"The project's commitment was to transfer sewing machines that have been donated to the D.A.M.I.E.N. Project and moved to El Salvador to aid in the initial work of both sides. The contract only stipulates the first phase of the project from July (when I signed the contract with Fundación Huellas) to this coming July,"said Germino. He continued, "It stated that Huellas was going to establish another workshop for those who have been sexually exploited; specifically, the workshop will teach and refine the skills of sewing,"
Germino said, "Manhattan College has opened up new opportunities for me to meet others who are passionate about helping those who are in need. It is manifested in the Lasallian Tradition for which I have asked them to help fund the next trip."
Germino requested and was approved funds from the Lasallian Action Committee for an immersion trip this July but is waiting on a vote from the Student Government Assembly for full approval.
The Huellas, Germino said, are "mainly composed of young adults and college students who perform liturgical dances and act out biblical passages." He elaborated, "All of this is one to increase awareness in the community, there and here, about the power of religion and how we can help those who are impoverished."
Since the age of fifteen, Germino has been halfway around the world on a mission with the Huellas, a not-for-profit religious group, helping impoverished women and children in El Salvador. This is done through his self designed and self-named D.A.M.I.E.N. Project.
"The project's commitment was to transfer sewing machines that have been donated to the D.A.M.I.E.N. Project and moved to El Salvador to aid in the initial work of both sides. The contract only stipulates the first phase of the project from July (when I signed the contract with Fundación Huellas) to this coming July,"said Germino. He continued, "It stated that Huellas was going to establish another workshop for those who have been sexually exploited; specifically, the workshop will teach and refine the skills of sewing,"
Germino said, "Manhattan College has opened up new opportunities for me to meet others who are passionate about helping those who are in need. It is manifested in the Lasallian Tradition for which I have asked them to help fund the next trip."
Germino requested and was approved funds from the Lasallian Action Committee for an immersion trip this July but is waiting on a vote from the Student Government Assembly for full approval.
The Huellas, Germino said, are "mainly composed of young adults and college students who perform liturgical dances and act out biblical passages." He elaborated, "All of this is one to increase awareness in the community, there and here, about the power of religion and how we can help those who are impoverished."