“I always hoped I would be brave enough to work with refugees… this is something I have always dreamed of,” said Elizabeth Rauenhorst, a recent Georgetown University graduate.

Elizabeth and fellow Georgetown graduate Liam McGraw are two Americans spending six months in Cambodia and Indonesia this spring, working with JRS offices as volunteers.

For Elizabeth, this opportunity feels deeply personal. She comes from a family rooted in international humanitarian work. Her father volunteered with one of the first JRS offices in the early 1980s, accompanying people fleeing Vietnam. Her mother has long experience in the refugee sphere, and Elizabeth is especially excited to reconnect with people her parents worked with during their time abroad.

Elizabeth and Liam are currently supporting the JRS Cambodia team in its programmatic efforts, including education, mental health and psychosocial support, advocacy, peacebuilding, fundraising campaigns, and communications and storytelling initiatives.

“JRS provides a personal support system to those who need it most, one that is truly holistic, echoing the Jesuit ethos of cura personalis,” Elizabeth said. “JRS is working with people in their fullness and all their complexity.” She is especially interested in JRS’s education programs and the impact education can have on both individuals and families.

For Liam, the experience is a chance to move from learning about justice to encountering it firsthand. He attended a Jesuit high school, where the values of service and solidarity shaped his understanding of faith in action. He recalls his teachers telling him that if he were ever anywhere in the world and needed help, he “should find a Jesuit.”

“It’s one thing to read a book or learn in a classroom, but it’s another to see what is happening in person,” Liam said. “I have been looking for so long to find a way to affect some sort of change.”

He also spoke about how inspiration has guided him to this moment. “When you’re inspired by a passion to do good and you see that in other people, it fuels that passion even more. I’ve felt that with professors, teachers, my family, and Elizabeth. The reason I want to be here is because I’ve been inspired, and I want to do something with that.”