What Must We Do?
A reflection of Paris, France
The Vincentian Heritage Tour
Was I the right choice?
The reason why I went to Paris was because of what I heard during my first week in college. A peer of mine talked about their experiences abroad and mentioned some trip learning about the Vincentian legacy. I never had any interest about Vincent de Paul when coming to DePaul University, but over time I learned the importance why he is the name above our door.
This trip was a special program for 20 students to learn and be in the footsteps of Vincent de Paul. Its called the Vincentian Heritage Tour which has been active at our school for decades. We consist of leaders from all over different parts of the university, but sometimes I wonder if I should be on this trip. The reason why is because this trip covers many religious and social work perspectives, but what I do is make video games. These topics aren’t really important in the game development industry today, but maybe it will be in the future.
What this story will talk about is my perspective abroad, understanding of the Vincentian Mission, and how it applies to myself today.
Cultural Differences
The only places I’ve been to outside of the United States are Colombia, El Salvador, and Mexico. All Spanish speaking countries which does not really benefit my European experience in a major way. To be honest, I’ve never been to Europe before or even spoke French. I used that to my advantage by spending my free time learning about cultural norms as an outsider.
For one thing, the architecture is completely different than Chicago. There is only one skyscraper in Paris and is just doesn’t fit the city’s vibe. One can see the country’s rich history through their buildings which is different than our colonized nation of America. Transportation was so simple as well. I truly loved their Metro system and how everything connects together so easily. I once rushed to a train because of my worry for waiting for another train, but trains come every 2 minutes there. Its awesome! It felt destressful and simple just like the people casually walking their dogs with no collars. Time wasn’t really a major issue like how it is in America.
Exploring Today
Community Significance
Something about DePaul University is its emphasis on communities and understanding them. This is especially important with being outside of Chicago, because there are a variety of unique communities that are not in other parts of the world. Since I was in Paris, I wanted to explore and see communities I’m interested in from a new perspective.
Asian Pop Culture
Walking through the streets of Paris didn’t really feel boring, but each block consisted of a variety of restaurants, nice artwork, and diverse people. I actually noticed a large amount of Asian locals and tourists as well. People have told me before there is a large population of Vietnamese because of the two countries’ history which I considered before visiting. Some minor goals for my time was to check out the Asian influence in a European city.
Each day I noticed more and more of the Asian influence in this city. I went to an amazing Vietnamese restaurant called Hanoi Cà phê and noticed on the way, that there were a high amount of Japanese, Chinese, and Vietnamese places to go to. With that, anime & manga was huge there. I would see stores and advertisements everywhere. Much more than what people would see even in a large Asian populated area in Chicago. It made me wonder why this is possible? So I decided to ask a local about it.
When I went to Hanoi Cà phê, I actually met with a game developer I connected with from the Game Developers Conference a while back. They shared their experience in France and talked about how Paris is a central point in the globe for many Asian countries to visit. This is why so many tourists come and go, but also why many stores are made to accommodate their interests. Paris even consists of many eSport lounges which isn’t popular in many cities within the US yet, but huge in Asia. These lounges are primarily for competitive players in the gaming world and seeing them casually around France really resonated with me. There are even streets and small areas that are targeted for Asian locals and tourists to go to. Like a Chinatown, but more casual. It was really cool seeing the similarities and differences in France, but throughout our trip I learned more than just pop culture.
New Perspectives
When we traveled, I spent lots of time talking with our bus driver during the week, Joop. Something that DePaul University emphasizes is the importance of dialogue with others. Joop has been doing this tour with our program for about 20 years and is actually not French, but Dutch. That doesn’t mean he doesn’t have a strong understanding of the culture, he’s there for over 10 weeks a year.
The Way of Dialogue allows us to enter more fully into the lives of the those around us. We are touched by the lives of the others and the others are touched by our lives. Through this deepened relationship with the others, we realize that the change needed must come from the others themselves and that they are fully capable of creating change. We must learn from the others and gain wisdom from their strength and character.
What Joop and I specifically talked about was religion in modern France. I brought this up because I went to mass in Notre Dame and there was a small attendance. Before the trip our group learned the significance of religion within the government, but after experiencing such a small turnout inside a major church made me question modern day France. It kind of felt like religion was being used for tourism more than practice.
The whole week consisted of various church tours in urban and rural places. You could find a church everywhere, but what Joop brought up was how no one practices their faith as much anymore. The ones that do though are super devout to their religion making large impacts in their community. Churches are used by people for primarily special occasions now. Even though the nation has such a rich history in Christianity.
Churches are becoming emptier as time passes by or there are no priests in the area to serve their community. Joop brought up how in rural towns travel to one primary church even with various churches within a few miles. This is due to the scarcity of people attending compared to a few decades ago. I remember learning about how the Pope even came to France and lectured its community for its lack of faith. Besides that, currently the Muslim population is the rapidly growing, but that is also due to the global issues happening within the Middle East.
Why I bring this up is because Vincent de Paul and his partner Louise de Marillac were both Catholic in their times. One a priest and other nun who passionately served their communities regardless of background because they viewed them as ‘Children of God’. With religion not being so relevant as much, I think about who are the leaders today and what motivates their actions.
About the Legacy
Vincent’s Turning Point
Going back in time Vincent de Paul was a tutor of Madame de Gondi in his early days. In 1617, Vincent was summoned to Folleville to offer the sacrament of reconciliation to a poor man that feared receiving confession. This concerned Madame de Gondi and Vincent so he gave a sermon in a church to the poor people there. He explained the significance of confession then everyone there wanted to receive it once they understood it. What the problem was that there were not enough resources of priests or the church to fully serve the community. Priests were not fully educated and Madame de Gondi had to ask for religious reinforcements.
Madame de Gondi looked to Vincent de Paul and asked, “What must be done?”
This created an awakening to Vincent on how he can bridge the poor with the resources in France. He fled to Châtillon-les-Dombes for about two years trying to figure out how to do this. Eventually leading him into structuring seminaries of the church, the Daughters of Charity, and even becoming the patron saint of charity.
For me, it was amazing being in the church where all of this happened. Most of the church was still from the original in 1617 which took me by surprise. Even though Folleville means the Village of Fools, I felt all the knowledge about Vincent and Louise come to me in that church. Being there made me reflect on France’s history and how important these people were during that time. Vincent de Paul even had a two hour Eulogy and was respected by all royalty there.
The Mission
The story of Folleville is actually what shapes our university today. It brings up the question of “What Must Be Done?” as in how do we connect resources together like Vincent and Louise did in their time. DePaul University was actually created because of this experience. Students who were marginalized never received proper education before and this school started educate them. Educate them in a way so they can impact the world just like the Vincentian leaders before them.
“The university encourages students to apply specialized expertise in ways that contribute to the societal, economic, cultural and ethical quality of life in the metropolitan area and beyond.” — DePaul Univerisity
Just thinking about that made me much more thankful on being in this trip. I personally believe this is what makes us different than a general community college or state school. We have a mission and a purpose of why we educate students. Louise de Marillac did this with the little girls who were not receiving education in their time as well. This was crazy because during their time women were objectified to either be married, a nun, or possibly a prostitute. She took the step to impact her community by connecting people to resources they need. Once people receive the resources they need, they give back to their community. This is what our mission at DePaul University has become today. Regardless of what students study, they have the opportunity to make a difference just like those before them.
Who are we today?
Professionalism with Personalism
One evening some members of our group went out of our way to visit Depaul France. They are part of Depaul International, a group of charities working to support homeless and marginalized people around the world. Before coming to France, our group was actually introduced to the head of Depaul International as well. Depaul France helps people who are homeless and disadvantaged. We used this as an opportunity to hear about challenge’s people in France face today.
What resonated with me from the visit was they believed that everyone should have a place to call home and a stake in their community. They were part of the contributions that ended homelessness in Sweden as well. The director of the department brought up one thing on what makes them important. When coming to France, they spent the time reflecting and understanding community. They learned how food and housing were not major resources in need with Paris’ system, but hygiene.
“Hygiene is at the heart of the action of Depaul France which, since June 2014, organizes resources in the south of Paris with its Mobil’douche to offer a moment of conviviality and a shower to homeless people.”
Once Depaul France understood this, they used their resources to create centers for breakfast, showers, and toilets for anyone to publicly use. I thought this was really cool because their restrooms were actually nicer than the hotel one I was staying in. Why this is important was because Depaul France uses the Vincentian history to influence them as a whole.
Being one on one and paternalistic is important when working with others or even communities, but there is more to make it effective. Vincent believed in order to do this there was to be an organized system to do so. Thus bringing in the professional aspect of service. Once these two ideas are brought together, service based work becomes much more effective just like how Depaul International is today.
The Invisible and Visible
When our group finished our guided tours, I actually spent a lot of my time just wondering Paris alone. Personally it was because everyday at school has been nonstop meetings or group things that I haven’t had a break in a very long time. During my time roaming around I liked being alone, but not feeling alone.
One evening, I took the Metro to head home after a long night. It was busy with people similar to rush hour within the US. As I walked I saw business workers, families, and teens just swiping into the Metro entrance. I followed them to the train home, but saw a something that really stuck with me.
As I’m in this lively crowd, we walk to the stairs that lead downward to the trains. It was packed and honestly a perfect opportunity for people to pickpocket in Paris, but I looked right in the middle and saw someone. A mother with her young child who looked miserable. I look around and notice no one looks at this person while she is just standing and asking for spare change. A sight that is sadly common within urban settings for solicitors. What happened next really left its mark.
The mother started getting on her knees and put her face towards the ground begging for recognition. Her child was leaning over concerned on why their mother was yearning for help. People would pass by and I didn’t see anyone acknowledge her presence even in her miserable stance.
“Where is the dignity? Was it because she was different?” — I asked myself
People that beg on all four arms and legs are considered defeated in Eastern cultures. These few minutes reminded me of the struggles that everyone faces in world. Whether it be in El Salvador, Colombia, Paris, or even the US, people struggle in their own ways. I won’t share what my actions were in this situation, but wanted to bring up questions I still think about today. How will the child look back on that moment? Who are the people that connect this family to resources they need? Do I fit into this situation or leave it for someone else to handle?
Coming Home
Bringing Paris to Chicago
Now why am I writing this in the first place? A major thing DePaul University emphasizes is the idea of how our service truly begins when we come home. As I said, The Vincentian Heritage Tour hand picked specifically 20 student leaders of all parts of DePaul University. Even though we were in France for 10 days, the purpose of this trip is to use our experiences to impact the communities we are involved with.
“Urban Educated, World Ready. The City is your Campus” — DePaul University
So what am I bringing home to my communities? I’m at DePaul studying computer game development. Each second of this trip brought in new perspectives and experiences I can take away in my lifestyle and professional work. Whether it is making video games or serving my community around me, I seek to use my skills to contribute to my communities just as the Vincentian leaders did before me.
Since I’m also a senior I don’t really know what I’m doing after graduation, but all I can say is that this trip was a good way to conclude my college experience. I look forward to seeing how my group answer’s the Vincentian question as well and hopes we can all make a difference in our communities as well.
“What Must Be Done? What Must I Do? What Must You Do? What Must We Do?” — Vincentian Question
