“I had captured a perfect moment completely by accident,” Souder said. Ever since then, the 2013 ��ݮ���� (EMU) graduate was hooked.

Today, this passion, along with a major in , landed Souder in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, as a photojournalist through Mennonite Central Committee’s (SALT) program.

Until a few months before his service began, the possibility of volunteer service “wasn’t really on my radar as an option,” Souder said. “I was in the process of applying for grad school when the country reps from Burkina Faso reached out to me.”

Souder has deferred his acceptance into Yale University, where he will study environmental management, to spend 11 months documenting the successes of various projects supported by Mennonite Central Commitee (MCC) and introducing the people that run those projects to the rest of the world. He works with Burkina Faso country representatives Sarah and Adam Sensamaust ‘03.

Hopes photos will change Western perspectives

Souder is one of this year. However, unlike most SALTers, Souder’s position gives him the opportunity to work with many partners, instead of just a singular organization, offering a wider contextual understanding of Burkina Faso.

With his work, he hopes to help change the perspective that many Westerners have of what life is like in African countries.

“Burkina Faso is filled with brilliant, vibrant, resilient, individual people, not just poverty. I want to tell the story of people who are investing in their community and improving life for themselves and their fellow Burkinabe,” Souder said.

supports different projects across the country relating to sustainable livelihoods, food security, health, education, peace and restorative justice. Along with documenting the work of MCC partners, Souder is also training staff and local Burkinabe with the skills to continue the storytelling when his service concludes.

“The people that we’re supporting often know the best way to improve their own situations, they just might lack the resources to do so. Our role is to support and empower them rather than telling them, ‘This is what we want you to do, this is how things are done,’” Souder said.

Serving and singing

This kind of work is not new for Souder. Before volunteering with MCC, he worked for a variety of nonprofits:  , the and (PULSE)  to name a few.

“EMU played big part in the trajectory of my work. EMU is very focused on service and teaching students how to serve and lead in the global context,” Souder said. “At EMU, I realized I can make a life outside the typical job field. There are many opportunities to work by following your passions.”

As most SALTers do, Souder lives with a host family. He says the program encourages its volunteers “to get involved and invested in our close community.”

For Souder, a singer since his early days in the that has meant joining the choir at the Mennonite church in Ouagadougou. Unlike most choirs he’s participated in, this one is quite small with four to 10 singers per week, and not everyone can read music.

“The choir director is a lovely woman from France who has lived in Burkina Faso for many years, and she very patiently teaches each voice part to every person,” said Souder, who considers singing a strong part of his identity. “This has been a great way for me to meet new people, practice my French, contribute to the worship service, and wind down after a week at work.”

Witnessing political turmoil

A terrorist attack in January 2016 wasn’t the first time that Souder has been close to violence in Burkina Faso. Before his arrival, Burkina Faso had been weathering political turmoil since October 2014, when former president Blaise Compaoré attempted to continue his rule by amending the constitution to extend his 27-year term without democratic election, and the country erupted into violent protests. After almost a year under an interim government, an elite branch of the military launched a coup d’etat shortly after Souder arrived in the capital of Ouagadougou.

“I have a room connected to the house, so I just stayed in my little compound for an entire week, but I was very well taken care of. My host family and MCC staff kept me up to date on what was happening,” Souder said. “It was scary, but we made it through.”

In late November, Burkina Faso experienced its first ever successful democratic election, an event that left Souder humbled.

“[Burkinabe] banded together, kept everyone accountable [after the coup d’etat], and kept that trajectory until the election period was over,” Souder said. “I’m really inspired by Burkinabe … Burkina Faso means ‘Land of Upright or Honorable People,’ and they have definitely lived up to that standard.”

Back at work now, Souder continues to take photos, which he shares on a widely followed , and to explore his new home.

“I highly recommend the SALT program  to any young people interested in expanding their global perspective,” Souder said. “It’s a big world out there. Go out and explore!”

This is how Wade Snowdon, coordinator of the (SALT) program, characterizes volunteers, ages 18-30, who decide to spend a year of service with .

Recently, nine alumni from ��ݮ����, among 51 “SALTers,” headed off to their new assignments around the globe.

They are:

James Souder ’13 ( and international development) from Harrisonburg, Virginia, is a communication and documentation assistant with MCC in Burkina Faso. [Read more .]

Chaska Yoder ’14 (/) from Plain City, Ohio, is the youth activities assistant in the Chaldean Archdiocese of Erbil, Iraq.

Dominik Berthold ’14 (social work and ) from Lancaster, Pennsylvania, is exit program manager at Lily of the Valley Children’s Village in South Africa.

Donavan Duttweiler ’14 () from Nunda, New York, is a community worker in Lieux de Vie in Burkina Faso.

Karla Hovde ‘15 ( and ) from Mulberry, Indiana, is a social media assistant with Basha Enterprises, Ltd., in Bangladesh.

David Hooley ’15 (and ) from Bluffton, Ohio, is a teaching and IT assistant at Songhor Secondary School in Kenya.

Jesse Parker ’15 ( and ) from Wichita, Kansas, is an agricultural assistant at Anafora Retreat Centre in Egypt.

Daniel Friesen ‘15, (psychology and ) is a manuscript editor with The Gioi World Publishing House in Vietnam.

Melinda Norris ’15 (environmental sustainability and ) from Staunton, Virginia, is an education assistant at Gateway Christian School in South Africa. [Read more .]

Royals bring special peace and justice backgrounds

SALT volunteers come from many different backgrounds, Snowdon said, noting that EMU alumni are characterized by their proven “desire for and understanding of peace and social justice. They come to us with a firm foundation in what it means to humbly work alongside communities in need in ways that are empowering and help to maintain the dignity to those we serve.”

The year of SALT service often contributes to a strong resume and the development of attributes that employers find attractive, Snowdon said, including strong communication skills, creativity and adaptability, and a well-rounded and versatile skill set.

When asked if the SALT experience helped her professionally, one SALT and EMU alumna responded in the affirmative – with an exclamation point.

From SALT into the public health field

After graduating in 2012 from EMU with a degree in biology and a chemistry minor, Laura Beidler spent a year as a public health advisor with Nepali public health NGO Shanti Nepal.

“I assisted with English documentation, attended and participated in community workshops and celebrations that focused on toilet building and use, prenatal care and childhood nutrition, and taught English to my Nepali coworkers,” said Beidler, who eventually returned to the United States to earn her master’s of public health at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth College.

There, she found her SALT year had given her unique “practical experiences and a different perspective about public health that many of the students in my graduate school cohort did not have,” she said.

Beidler is now a health policy fellow at The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice, currently working with a research team studying the adoption of evidence-based innovations by health care systems.

“Living in Nepal helped me to learn to be patient and improved my ability to work with diverse groups of people,” she said.

While SALT doesn’t offer a large number of health-related assignments each year, Snowdon said that “the majority have been filled by those with nursing or biology degrees from EMU. These individuals have served in a variety of ways including as nurses and in HIV/AIDS support programs in countries such as Nepal, Nigeria, and Indonesia.”

Nicole Groff ’14 worked in such a program in Papua, Indonesia, and has developed a professional goal of becoming a physician’s assistant. “This past year has helped me to see the connection between structural/social issues and the health of people’s lives and the importance of culturally sensitive development work,” she says. “It’s helped me learn more of what I’m passionate about, but also why God has given me those passions.”

Faculty, staff and fellow students nominated the recipients, who were cited for their “significant and verifiable impact” on the university and on student life; for their contributions to developing the institution’s positive image; for substantial contributions to the Harrisonburg/Rockingham County area and beyond; for their high academic and social standing; and their embodiment of EMU’s shared values of Christian discipleship, community, service and .

They wore gold and blue cords as they graduated on Sunday, April 28.

Blue represents strength of conviction that one person can help to create a better institution or community. Gold represents the love of spirit and yearning toward creating a better university environment or community.

2013 recipients

• Nels Akerson, a biology degree recipient from Harrisonburg, Va.
• Michael Allen, a liberal arts degree recipient from Fork Union, Va.
• Jossimar Diaz-Castro, a philosophy and theology degree recipient from Harrisonburg, Va.
• Ryan Eshleman, a philosophy and theoogy and biology degree recipient from Harrisonburg, Va.
• Darian Harnish, an accounting degree recipient from Manheim, Pa.
• Josh Kanagy, a psychology degree recipient from Harrisonburg, Va.
• Julia Schmidt, a history degree recipient from Pandora, Ohio.
• Hannah Schrock, a biology degree recipient from Kalona, Ia.
• Kelley Schroder, a music degree recipient from Leesburg, Va.
• James Souder, an environmental sustainability degree recipient from Harrisonburg, Va.

Emily Harnish, a senior from Strasburg, Pa., won first place with her speech, “Lessons from the hymnal in an election season.” In her speech, Harnish explains her anger over the non-peaceful manner of politics during the 2012 election and how the hymn, “Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence,” made her think about peace in a new way.

“When I remember that my citizenship is in heaven, I am able to look past disagreements about politics,” said Harnish.

“When I take seriously the hymn’s command to give Christ all reverence and honor, I am able to move closer to living in peaceful relationships with my neighbors. This first stanza helped me understand that peacebuilding requires humility, that humans have limits, and that peace and wholeness come from something outside of humanity. It reminded me to keep silence, to be slow to speak, and slow to become angry.”

As a first-place winner, she will receive a cash prize and entry in the bi-national competition with winners from other Mennonite colleges and universities in the United States and Canada.

Rebekah Enns, a senior from Winnipeg, Manitoba, was one of two runners-up with her speech, “Language as Lived Reality: Developing a Discourse of Peace.” Enns discussed the power of words to “legitimize and delegitimize violence and to build societies of peace.”

“At least 43 percent of American Muslims undergo some form of discrimination or violence because of their religion every year. And while they only make up one percent of the American public, American Muslims are victims of 13 percent of hate crimes in the U.S.

“Through discourse, we, us, everyday people have the power to create systems of peace.”

Josh Kanagy, a senior from Timberville, Va., was the other runner-up with his speech, “Molding Peace Within: Reflections of a Recovering Workaholic.” Kanagy restructured his daily schedule to match his priorities, “refraining from responsibilities that overwhelmed me.”

“There’s nothing heroic about suffering alone. As illustrated by Thomas Merton, ‘This is about more than self-care, this is about molding yourself and your environment to support your capacity to thrive.'”

Kanagy urged those in attendance to, “Seek your passion, your freely chosen task.”

C. Henry Smith Oratorical Contest

The annual oratorical event, open to students in Mennonite and Brethren in Christ universities and colleges in Canada and the United States, is administered by Peace and Justice Ministries of U.S.

Each speaker applied the Christian peace position to a contemporary concern in an 8-10 minute address.

The contest was established in 1974 in honor of the late C. Henry Smith, a Mennonite historian and professor at Goshen College and Bluffton University.

Other 2013 contestants

• Corben Boshart, “Seeking Unity in the Mennonite Church”
• James Souder, “Redistributing Food, An Opportunity for Peace”
• Jossimar Díaz-Castro, “A Christian, Democratic Immigrant Witness & Participation Today”
• Mariah Elliott, “Are You Who You Say You Are?”
• Taylor Waidelich, “Restoring Justice to Educational Discipline”

The 20-year-old sophomore made sure she attended the annual Fall Harvest Local Meal last week, if only because many of her friends were raving about it.

“It’s one of the most popular meals of the year,” she said.

Students, faculty, staff and visitors line up to partake of the yearly celebration of everything local: produce, meat, herbs and even the music playing through the speakers — all produced no farther away than Waynesboro, and mostly in Harrisonburg or Rockingham County.

Over the past five years, the meal has become a well-received tradition on campus.

“I’m not really on a meal plan, but I make it a point to come,” said senior James Souder, 22.

“We always make sure we come,” echoed , assistant to , who donated an array of peppers from his city garden.

provided radishes and potatoes, cabbage came from Hickory Hill Farm in Keezletown and Showalter’s Orchard and Greenhouse provided apple cider, to name a few of the event’s farmer participants.

Even the canola oil was local, derived from .

“The interest that the community gives us, it’s what makes it worthwhile,” said Ramona Lantz, serving and catering manager at the university, on a short break from practically running around the buzzing dining hall.

Every month, the cafeteria provides a themed meal.

“This is by far the most popular,” Lantz said.

The event was one of the first of the annual Food and Farming Week at EMU, put on by , a student group that aims to encourage and start environmentally friendly practices around campus.

Students learned how to bake bread in residence hall last week. They took a tour of Broadway farm Avalon Acres and various campus gardens. And that’s just a sampling of the week’s events.

“This [meal] is something that students really look forward to,” said Josh Kanagy, co-president of Earthkeepers, while eating his own locally grown meal.

Courtesy Daily News Record, Oct. 9, 2012

They are men and women aged 20 to 90 who do things on behalf of peace and justice like mediate between warring soldiers and live among suffering refugees in camps.

Souder is one of four 1990-born undergraduates at EMU who are “community assistants” in the main dormitory building occupied by participants in EMU’s 2012 .

Souder’s no slouch – he is a gifted singer and an expert photographer () and is majoring in , plus carrying four minors – but he says his accomplishments pale beside those of the people he meets on his SPI job.

Mixing with peacebuilders from around the globe

He points to 74-year-old Lilian Burlando, pictured to the left with her grandson, whom she brought with her to SPI in 2010. Lilian is a clinical psychologist who journeyed to SPI in 2011 and 2012 from the southernmost tip of South America, Tierra del Fuego, Argentina.

She also came in 2006, 2008 and 2010.

This year she came alone, but on two occasions . (One of her daughters, a prosecuting attorney in Argentina, has attended SPI twice, in 2007 and 2011.)

“Lilian is one of the most engaging people you could ever meet,” said Souder, who follows over 60 SPI friends on Facebook.

When Souder learned that Burlando loves choral music, he arranged for her to attend performances of the acclaimed touring choir and the . Burlando squeezed in these activities on top of her usual active participation in all-day classes and in SPI-wide lectures, meals, and international dances. In her home community, Burlando is the founding director of the (Center for Study and Meditation).

SPI work strengthens cross-cultural experience

Souder spent his in the , leaving him with a special spot in his heart for SPI participants from that region.

He loved getting to know Nettie Pardue in May 2012, a California woman who leads Outward Bound trips that brings Israelis and Palestinians together for an extended sojourn in wilderness settings. And he worries about the volatile home-country situation of the four Lebanese students he recently met.

“When I returned from the Middle East, I was so grateful for the hospitality that was given to me,” he said. “I try to reciprocate by extending hospitality to people coming here.”

Souder and his fellow community assistants – Alli Eanes, Josh Kanagy, and Jamila Witmer – take shifts being available 24 hours a day by telephone to assist the students at SPI, some of whom are in a foreign setting for the first time in their lives. Common concerns are how to phone home (pre-paid telephone cards are best), where to get familiar foods (some items can be found in local food stores), and how to work the laundry machines in the dormitory (start with having the right change).

Sometimes assigned roommates don’t mesh, and the community assistants provide mediation, working with the SPI housing coordinator – this year it’s 2010 EMU grad Kate Bergey – on a resolution. Souder works at being equally helpful to high officials in foreign governments and in organizations like the United Nations and to grassroots workers who serve the poorest of the poor.

And then there’s his photography. James works with EMU staff photographers to compile . He also works with SPI co-director on a selection of printed photos each participant is gifted with as a memory of their time at EMU and in SPI classes.

“James does it out of a love of photography and his pictures are proof,” says Goldberg.

Undergrads fill out the ranks of SPI staff

In addition to the four community assistants, two other undergraduates are on the SPI staff – Kiersten Rossetto focuses on transportation to and from airports and other locations, and Louise Babikow is assigned to a residential unit that houses visiting instructors and guest lecturers.

“On the SPI evaluation forms, we get lots of compliments on our student staff,” says SPI co-director . “They play key roles in creating the kind of welcoming atmosphere that SPI is renowned for.”

Learn more about peacebuilding at EMU

• (photos by James Souder and EMU staff photographers)
• Undergraduate
• , EMU MA 2007

or from our admissions staff!

This was not the scene of some elaborate dining-hall heist orchestrated by starving college students. It is the bi-weekly routine of sophomore James Souder, often joined by first-year Brandon Waggy and others from the Sustainable Food Initiative, to donate untouched cafeteria leftovers to Our Community Place.

This effort, now down to smooth routine, is the result of continued collaboration between students of SFI, dining hall director Bruce Emmerson, and staff at OCP. At the end of last fall semester, junior Rebekah* [last name omitted on request] approached Emmerson about the possibility of donating unused food to those who need it.

Rebekah said that her Walking Disciples dorm hall, and previous involvement with OCP, are what inspired her and others to become more aware of the excess food in the cafeteria. “So often, we think about going abroad to ‘help those in need,’ but there are people going hungry in the country and in this community.”

Last year, she and former student Lucas Schrock-Hurst protested wastefulness by taking plates from students in the cafeteria, and eating the leftovers before they could hit the trash. Emmerson stopped their demonstration for health reasons, but their passion made an impact, especially when they offered OCP donations as an alternative.

“Anyone that just criticizes without suggestion is not helpful, but almost every initiative we’ve done here has been student-driven, or at least a student idea,” said Emmerson over the sound of a floor cleaner whirring around the cafeteria. “And so when they come to me, it might be a little critical, but if they have an idea, I’m more than happy to try it.”

Back in Souder’s car, the food does not even have a chance to get cold before it arrives at OCP. Souder and Waggy quickly unload the pans into a large outdoor cooler, and head back to campus before their next classes.

Reflecting on the beginnings of this initiative, Souder said, “We didn’t have the right connections made yet.” Emmerson echoed this uncertainty in the planning stage. “I thought it was a good idea; we just needed to work out logistics.” Rebekah had a vision for what could happen. Emmerson had the resources. OCP had the need. Souder stepped up to provide the legwork.

“Sometimes when they come to me with an idea, it sounds a little overwhelming,” said Emmerson. Eventually, though, it can and often does become a reality. “I think it’s great that the students care, that they want to see change, and change in the right direction.”

Current environmental practices in EMU’s food services include trash sorting for composting, eliminating tray use, biodegradable paper products, and the Den’s reusable take-out containers. Even changes as small as replacing paper waffle-batter cups with reusable plastic ones, make a difference. Evidence of these changes is the few garbage cans now behind the cafeteria, compared to the large dumpster that once rested there.

This passion for change is what drives students such as Rebekah and Souder to be involved with challenging the university to think more carefully about what sustainability means.

“This is a meaningful use of our leftovers because we use the abundant resources and use them wisely,” said Rebekah. “We follow God’s teachings. Give to the poor. Hang out with the poor.” She sees this as impactful not only to those at the OCP supper table, but in her personal life as well, as connections are made throughout the community. “I think it is great to be a sustainable campus, but we should not get too caught up in it,” she continued. “We could make this entire campus sustainable, but there are still people hungry in our community.”

Both SFI and the dining hall have future plans for continuing to realize EMU’s sustainability commitment in tangible ways. The Sustainable Food Initiative hopes to plant at least ten donated apple trees on the hill behind campus. They are also in need of students to fill Souder and Waggy’s places next semester, as they leave for cross-cultural. Emmerson would like to incorporate more local foods in the cafeteria, but logistics pose a challenge. He mentioned that having a work-study student work on local food distribution would open up opportunities for local produce.

Rebekah recalled a statement made by Schrock-Hurst during their day of eating others’ leftovers. “The point is not whether us eating your leftovers is right or wrong or gross,” said Schrock-Hurst, “the point is, it is grossly unjust for our university to be throwing out large quantities of food when there are people just a few miles from here struggling to put food on the table. Let’s change.”

Reprinted from , EMU’s student newspaper. Preliminary interview by Timothy Hartman.

*Rebekah’s first name is used by request.