By Annabeth Miller,
ShowMe Times Editor

A Dexter college student is truly on a journey of a lifetime.

Jansen Williams of Dexter, is a music therapy student at Maryville University in St. Louis. Jansen and a crew of students and faculty from Maryville are on a service learning trip to Guatemala. The students and their professors are providing therapy services to residents of Obras Sociales del Hermano Pedro located in Antigua, Guatemala.

The goal during this first year of this project is to provide purposeful activities and contribute to the quality of life for the residents. And to do that the students are immersing themselves in the culture of the country and sharing their time and talents.

Jansen and her fellow travelers have been spending each morning in intensive Spanish language lessons, and the remainder of the day providing therapy services to the residents.

Jansen is the daughter of Kim and Gary Williams of Dexter and is a graduate of Dexter High School She recently sent the following message to her mother by email:

“Words cannot explain how amazing today was! Feel free to share this.

“There was a man at the school in the orphanage today that asked one of the OT (Occupational Therapy) students to sing ‘Amazing Grace.’ He can speak English. She grabbed me and told him that I was the singer. So, I sang ‘Amazing Grace’ to him. He had tears in his eyes when I finished. He started asking me about some of the words and what they mean. For example he asked about the word "sound" because he thought it sounded the same as "sun." I explained to him the difference between the words. I ended up singing the song four times.

“This man started talking to me and told me that he is blind. He said, ‘I pray to God every day and ask Him to give me sight. I do not want to die like this.’

“The first thought that came into my mind while he shared this with me was, ‘What do I say?’ It was amazing the conversation that I had with this man. I know that the Lord was with me during this amazing experience! There is no way I could have done it without Him!

“The man asked me to sing it one more time. After finishing, he reached his arms out and gave me a huge hug and thanked me for talking to him and singing.

“I immediately walked into the room where we store our supplies each day and let out a few tears. One of my music therapy professors (who actually attends a Disciples of Christ church in St. Louis) immediately walked over to me and asked if I was okay. I told her what happened and she gave me the biggest hug.

“This trip has been absolutely amazing! I appreciate all the prayers and support from everyone. It makes me sad that I have to leave these amazing people in four days!”

To follow more about Jansen’s amazing journey, visit the project blog online at http://blogs.maryville.edu/guatemala/

PHOTO ABOVE:Jansen Williams of Dexter (second from left) is part of a group of Maryville University Music Therapy and Occupational Therapy students that traveled to Guatemala for a service learning program at a local orphanage.

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