Many college graduates have a long to-do list. This list may include the basics such as finding a house, getting a job or moving somewhere new. The items further down the list may be more extravagant, such as travel to or live in a foreign country.
For senior Madison Mater, getting a job and moving to a foreign country are at the top of her list and she’s already checked them off.
After graduation, Mater will leave for Haiti to work as the assistant volunteer coordinator at Haitian American Caucus.
According to the HAC website, the organization’s mission “is to create a platform by which communities of individuals are empowered to create their own sustainable solutions for development, thereby enabling them to rise out of poverty and develop their communities.”
“I’m going to be in charge of all the interns and the volunteers coming in and out of the organization,” Mater said. “… It’s just all about community and local empowerment.”
When she came to Baker, she knew she wanted to help people abroad, but her interest in Haiti was sparked when she went on the interterm trip with Jacob Bucher, associate professor of sociology, in January 2012.
During the interterm, a group of about 12 students and Bucher traveled to the HAC compound and volunteered. At the time, they were building additional classroom space.
“When we went on this interterm, (Bucher) really tried to enforce the idea of like, ‘okay, if you’re wanting to make a change in a developing country, this is the way to go about doing it.’ I just didn’t really know what I was getting myself into.”
Bucher then helped Mater take it from there. After the interterm trip, he supervised her internship with HAC last summer.
“He just like laid out the stepping stones for me to follow, basically,” Mater said.
Bucher said Mater has the qualities it takes to do that kind of global outreach work.
“For this kind of work, you need a couple things,” Bucher said. “You need a little bit of selflessness, obviously some academic training and basics and then some personality characteristics, and Madison has all of those.”
Although she is excited about learning more about the organization and hopes this experience will help her direct her future, she knows she will miss one thing about home for sure.
“I think honestly what I’m most nervous about … I’m really going to miss my mama,” she said. “It’s going to be hard being so far away from her for so long. But it’ll be worth it, I hope.”
After her initial three months of work, the organization will review her contract and, if she is doing a good job, she could potentially be in Haiti for “a couple of years.”
One of Mater’s friends, sophomore Katy Westhoff, said it will be hard to say goodbye.
“The selfishness in me is really upset that she’s going to be gone,” Westhoff said. “I mean, it’s only three months at first … but still hard, as her friend, to watch her go.”
Mater said she will not have a phone, there is no postal service, and the internet and electricity are not very reliable, but she will try to keep in touch with everyone through email, Facebook and Skype.
“It’s hard because I’m not going to have a phone,” Mater said. “I’m not going to have reliable internet. I’m not going to be as much in contact, so I think everyone’s worried.”
This experience will serve as a stepping stone for Mater, as she said she’s “trying to kill some time before grad school.”
“I’m just hoping she’ll find places to grow and places where she can really make a name for herself and the organization in the community,” Westhoff said. “She’s doing it because she’s passionate about it, and I hope people see that.”
