Frida
March 22. 2002
Pifer
Features
MK student shares life memories from Uruquav
Erin Bovd xr r> u..* j ^ ^ J
Erin Boyd
Pilot co-editor
Her favorite childhood
memories include sitting in a
circle with friends. She was
not, however, playing duck-
duck-goose or ring-around-the-
roses.
She was sipping tea from a
gourd and passing it around the
circle.
This GWU freshman’s
childhood memories vastly dif
fer from those of most of her
classmates.
Though she is American by
birth, Emily Ingram is
Uruguayan by culture.
“They call us third culture
kids,” Ingram said, in reference
to how she and other MKs
(Missionary Kids) have been
described. “We are not all-
American, but we are influ
enced by our parents who grew
up in the U.S.”
Ingram was bom in High
Point, N.C., but moved to
Costa Rica when she was three.
Her parents studied Spanish in
the country for a year, then
moved their family to Uruguay
to be missionaries with the
International Mission Board
(IMB).
“Some MKs are resentful
they have to live in different
countries,” said Ingram. “It
took a long time for me to
decide that I wanted to be a
part of my parents’ ministry.”
Before coming to Gardner-
Webb, Ingram was actively
involved in many aspects of
her parents’ mission work.
Among other activities, she
wrote prayer e-mails, translat
ed for mission teams, partici
pated in sports evangelism, led
Bible studies and taught chil
dren’s Bible school.
Along with helping in her
parents’ ministry, Ingram also
kept herself busy with school-
work. Though she attended
Uruguayan national schools for
several years, most of her edu
cation was completed at home
under the instruction of her
mother.
“Homeschooling gave me
flexibility,” said Ingram. “I
would work hard and complete
two weeks of work in one, so I
could travel on a mission trip
with my dad.”
Ingram added that the tran
sition to classroom learning at
Gardner-Webb has been a chal
lenge.
“I was not used to taking
timed tests, but the professors
have been good to help me
adjust,” she said.
At GWU, Ingram is dou-
ble-majoring in International
Business and Spanish. She
dreams of using the business
degree she is acquiring to pro
vide new job opportunities for
the Uruguayan people.
“I want to reach the upper-
class [in Uruguay] with the
gospel [of Jesus Christ].
Providing them with jobs will
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open the doors for me to reach
them,” she said.
Ingram explained that the
educational system in Uruguay
is competent, but most
Uruguayans do not pursue an
education past the high school
level. The job market is sparse
and even people with degrees
have a hard time finding work.
“There are trained doctors
who drive taxis because they
can’t find jobs,” said Ingram.
Though she acknowledged
the country’s troubles, Ingram
happily reflected on the sim
plicity of life that her
Uruguayan childhood gave her.
Ingram grew up veiy close
to her family.
“The hardest part about
living in Uruguay was that we
were so far away from our
grandparents and extended
family,” she said.
Although they now
live on different continents and
are separated by 13,000 miles,
Ingram maintains a close link
with her family in Uruguay.
She and her mother e-mail
every day. “She is my lifeline,”
Ingram said of her mother.
Ingram’s GWU friends
notice the pride she exhibits in
her Uruguayan culture.
“It’s fun to watch her,” said
freshman Nicole Austin,
Ingram’s roommate.
“She plays a tape music
recorded off of a Uruguayan
radio station a lot. She also
drinks tea all the time. Tea is a
big part of her culture.”
Ingram described how one
tea-drinking tradition symbol
izes the priorities of the
Uruguayan people.
“Community, unity and
sharing are important to the
Uruguayans,” she said.
Whether shared between
two people or 10, adults or
children, said Ingram, they dis
play these characteristics “by
uniting together in a circle to
share a tea called matE.”
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