Name: Tracy O’Heir

Tracy O’Heir, a native of Chicago and alum of Mother McAuley High School, is an Intern/Emergency Coordinator with Catholic Relief Services (CRS) in Zimbabwe. Before joining the CRS staff, Tracy studied social work at St. Louis University, was a member of the Jesuit Volunteer Corps in Houston, worked with African refugees in Chicago and with Jesuit Refugee Services in Sudan and did graduate study at Fordham University.

Catholic Relief Services is the official international relief and development agency of the US Catholic community.

Organization Website:
www.crs.org

1. How were you called to your current ministry/service?
   After college I moved to Houston, Texas to do a volunteer program there. I had a degree in Social work and didn’t really know what I wanted to do next. In Texas I worked with immigrants and people living with AIDS. It was good work but I didn’t feel really inspired. I decided that I should move back to Chicago to be closer to my family. I got a job working with African refugees. I took that job mostly because it was something totally different, and, to be honest, I needed work. It changed my life. I learned about the lives of refugees in Africa and decided that I wanted to work there. I ended up working in Southern Sudan for two years, getting a Masters degree, and then returning to Africa last January to work with Catholic Relief Services in Zimbabwe.

   CRS Zimbabwe works to mitigate the effects of HIV/AIDS on the poor in Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe currently has an HIV prevalence rate of just over 21%. That means one out of every five Zimbabweans has HIV. Recent estimates find that there are over 1.3 million children here orphaned as a result- and the population of Zim is just over 12 million.

2. Who inspires you?
   My friends inspire me and give me the energy to keep at it. Anytime I can have a good laugh with my friends, I gain a little more energy for my work. I have met some very amazing people in my work in Africa. In Sudan I worked in an education program. My co-workers and the community leaders were struggling to ensure an education for their children, despite many obstacles, including war and intense hunger and poverty. I find them very inspiring.
3. What are the biggest obstacles to peace?
   To me, poverty is the biggest obstacle to peace. When people are poor, they will do anything to feed their families, to get their kids to schools, to protect themselves. Poverty leads to conflict.
4. How do you get the news?
   Well, here in Zim I get the news a lot of different ways. I look at the CNN and BBC websites everyday, as well as the United Nations news websites. I also watch BBC news sometimes. But my favorite way to get the news is by listening to a show called Focus on Africa, which is on the BBC radio station every evening. It has news and interesting stories from all over the continent.
5. What are your favorite websites and why?
   I guess I should list the websites I look at on a regular basis. I love www.theonion.com. Its hilarious and it makes people think. It’s a great way to get the news about home. I also look at the BBC News website everyday. And, the most important website that I visit on a daily basis is the Major League Baseball website. I get all the news I need about the White Sox and I can watch the games online.
6. How do you nurture your faith life?
   Everyday I take some time by myself. Sometimes its just sitting and thinking/praying on the porch of my house. Other times I do yoga or pilates. But everyday, I do something. When I am home in Chicago, I reconnect with my faith community there- I make a point to go to church with my friends, to visit with the people who have influenced my faith over the years. Taking the time to reconnect is vital. We don’t have to have deep, insightful conversations. But spending time with people, who support my faith and my choices, even if we are talking about unimportant things, keeps me going.
7. What advice would you give the next generation of church and civic leaders?
   Be open. The church and our country are both facing some pretty big splits among the people. We need to start getting creative and being open to new ideas so that we can work together instead of alienating each other.
8. Tell us something about yourself that we wouldn’t know.
   mmm…..I speak Arabic. I know how to make Ethiopian food. Sometimes I could spend the whole weekend in my pajamas, reading and watching tv. I hate cold weather. I love macaroni and cheese in the box where the cheese is already in a little tube and you squeeze it out onto the noodles. I have been in the Southside Irish Parade at least 5 times.
9. Last good book you read?
   The last GREAT book I read was called “Where We Have Hope” by Andrew Meldrum. It’s the story of an American journalist who came to Zimbabwe in the 1980s to cover the story of Zimbabwe’s independence from the British. Mr. Meldrum was expelled from Zim a few years ago for speaking out against injustice. It’s a heartbreaking story but also very inspiring.
10. Last good movie you saw?
    The last good movie I saw was Paradise Now, the story of two young Palestinian men who decide to become suicide bombers. It sounds depressing, but it is a really good look at the lives of Palestinians. I think this movie won a Screen Actors Guild award this year.
11. The cable channel here is also running Dodgeball almost everyday.
    I love this kind of humor. I think Dodgeball is hilarious. Vince Vaughn and Ben Stiller are two of the funniest guys around.
12. What were you like in High School?
    I was a little nerdy, I guess. I worked very hard in school. I had a group of friends that were in my same classes, on the weekends we would hang out, watch movies, go to concerts. When the World music theater opened (I think its called the Tweeter Center now), I was very excited to go see Depeche Mode. All the “normal stuff”, I guess?
13. If you were a teenage Peacebuilder you would…
    Try to be open to every new experience. I have found in the past I really limit myself when I judge people, experiences before I know the whole story. Trying out new things has been the way I have discovered most of the things that have changed my life. Take retreats at school or at church, listen to music from a country you are interested in, go to a speaking event even if you think you might disagree with the speaker. All these things open doors for us.
14. What is your favorite comfort food?
    French toast with loads of maple syrup! And anything chocolate. I especially love really rich chocolate cake with really dark chocolate frosting. Also, whenever I am home in Chicago, I have to have pizza from the original Aurelio’s in Homewood and Irish garlic sausage from the butcher near my parents’ house in Mt. Greenwood.