CRS Speaker Tells Story of Hope at DeSales

DeSales University recently hosted Thomas Awiapo, a Catholic Relief Services employee and native of Ghana. Awiapo came to DeSales to share his story of hope and the power of CRS. Awiapo’s life was changed 40 years ago when CRS built a school near his village in Ghana. Growing up, his childhood was characterized by his continual hunger and the village he lived in had no access to running water and often times he would cry and fight for food. In addition to a lack of food, Awaipo’s parents died when he was a child leaving him and his three brothers as orphans.

Awiapo credits one single snack he received as a child as saving his life. When he entered the CRS school on the first day, they provided all the students with a snack to start their day and did this every day following. This was thanks to the CRS Rice Bowl Program. Because of his schooling with CRS, Awiapo found “food, education, faith and later earned his master’s degree in the United States.” Currently Awiapo is working to open a new school for children experiencing the same things he did. Awiapo notes that “Catholic Relief Services is a gospel of love, a gospel of justice, and a gospel of hope around the world. Assembling this box every Lent, we are actually assembling many, many broken lives around the world.”

To read more about Awiapo’s story, visit DeSales news.

DeSales Service-Learning Benefits All

Incorporating service and learning into coursework is always a beneficial experience and one that students take advantage of. DeSales University Doctor of Physical Therapy Program is ensuring that students get the most out of their education by incorporating this service-learning method into their courses. The DeSales Doctor of Physical Therapy program has a Pediatric Physical Therapy Clinic where students provide services free of charge for six weeks.

Students are given the opportunity to put what they are learning in the classroom into practice while helping those that would not normally be able to afford the services they are offering. The students are under the mentorship of a professor and are given feedback on each of their client appointments. One student noted that “We are used to sitting in the classroom all day and learning about these conditions and diagnoses. On top of that, knowing that we’re helping out kids that really need therapy, it’s just an indescribable feeling.”

To read more about DeSales program, visit DeSales news.