CA : What’s Aliquippa like?

Eileen: Aliquippa is grey – all concrete and asphalt – not many trees. The suburbs around are basically a collection of run-down housing projects for the working poor and welfare-dependent. Each area has a dominant ethnic group.

Aliquippa is mostly African American. There’s a lot of racial tension. Heaps of houses are abandoned and some shops are derelict. There is shattered glass on the streets.

CA : How do you spend your time?

Eileen: Most days I work at ‘Uncommon Grounds’ coffee house, which was set up as a kind of community hub by Australian Church Army officer, John Stanley. It’s a place for people to enjoy coffee or a meal, and also to find acceptance, encouragement and understanding. You can check it out at www. uncommongroundscafe.org.

I supervise volunteers and make friends with regular customers. I listen to their stories and assist with practical things like teaching a 75 year-old-man how to use the internet. It’s no easy job. Thursdays and Fridays I put in 12-hour shifts. Sometimes I don’t finish until 1:00 AM.

CA : What’s the best thing about being in Aliquippa?

Eileen: It’s great living among the people I’m serving. It’s not like I clock off and go back to a safe and comfortable middle-class neighbourhood. It blows people away to think that a white girl with an education would choose to travel half- way around the world to come to a poor, black neighbourhood.

But living here is also tough. Sometimes I feel trapped and a little overwhelmed by the grinding poverty and the threat of violence. It’s not safe for me to walk the streets alone. And being white, I really stand out. Even before I meet people, they’ve heard about me. I’m kind of a novelty around here, both because of how I look, and the way I talk.

CA : How did your training prepare you?

Eileen: Training taught me to share my faith in ways that fit with the ethos of the café, and make sense to the people here. Doing all the inner world work made me stronger, and prepared me to live in a close community.

CA : What’s surprised you?

Eileen: The most surprising thing about Aliquippa is the sense of community. A lot of life is lived together, hanging out on the street or on the front porch. People wave and say ‘hi’ as they walk by. There is amazing unity and cooperation among the churches here. All the pastors get together to pray around the housing projects. The churches here hold the community together.