Interviewee: Tressa Harvy
Interviewer: Devonn Weston
Relationship: Friend
Date: May, 2002

She's on a Mission and must find a way
to survive in a new place

 

What is your full name?

Tressa Marie Harvy

What is your nationality?

I'm half Navaho and half Dutch

What is your date of birth?

June 25th, 1982

Where were you born?

Masa, Arizona

Why did you leave your country/ state/ former place of residence?

To come and do a year of ministry in the inner-city of Philadelphia.

What did you like/ dislike about your home?

What did I--I liked about my home is the, the openness of New Mexico, there's not much there, I wasn't born in Arizona, I was born in Arizona, but I lived in New Mexico is where I'm from, and I like the diversity of it. The Native American aspect of it is important to me and so, I don't know. What I don't like about it is that there isn't, much to do, I mean there is, but there's not, and it's been kind of, like cool coming to this state.

Why did you choose Philadelphia?

'Cause I have never been to Philadelphia before, it's the first time here for the year, so.

How did you travel here? Would you change that?

By plane. No

How did you find a place to live in Philly?

How did I find a place? I, through my organization, through my mission year and they let me, they set it up before I got here.

With whom did you travel?

I traveled by myself.

Give 1 thing you remember most about your hometown and why?

I remember the landscape, its very, it on a plateau, it's high altitude and it, that's definitely something that I remember and, yeah. Why I remember it, because, that's where I grew up and kind of the whole outdoor thing, so I spent a lot of time when I'm home.

How did your life change when you moved and what were the differences between the two places?

I wasn't free to roam, I had to be more conscious of what I was doing. It was very easy to be just completely out of it, oblivious to danger and my hometown in my area. Coming to Philly has been a big challenge in that aspect, a lot more people there's definitely more people, the population of Philadelphia, and so it's kind of crazy, and the difference between this obvious is that, the huge thing, the population, yeah, so.

What did you expect about Philly?

About Philly, I expected it to be huge and I expected it to be pretty-- I thought it would be more dangerous living here, but it really isn't that bad.

What did you come here to accomplish and what else do you feel you still need to do?

I came here to kind of get an idea of what I wanted to do in school and to get an idea of what I wanted to do with my life. I still need to finish my year. I still have two months left. I still need to just continue to think about my education and what I need to do with it, and I hope that I get an idea with that.

What are the differences between when you came here and now?

I'm definitely a lot more aware of the world. I kind of experienced the complete rural aspect compared to the urban aspect and how I understand the difference between the two. There are also a lot of similarities between the two different areas, comparing to the reservation in the inner-city. There's a lot of poverty levels that are obvious, and I think that I've gotten a better understanding of myself just being away from my comfort zone and also my home.

What did you sacrifice/ leave behind when you left?

I left my family. That was hard to leave the Native American culture. [It] is very focused on the family and being--setting yourself to be more available for your family in any situation, leaving a lot of friends behind was hard and just hearing about problems within my friends lives there made it difficult. I sacrificed my independence a lot of the times because I've had--part of being part of this program has forced me to be very involved with things that I normally wouldn't be so.

What problems did you encounter coming to Philly?

Problems, definitely moving in with my team. That was a challenge in itself. Also just trying to figure out how to be part of this community and to learn to like it here was hard. It wasn't easy to like it at first. So that was the biggest challenge by far.

How much money did you have and where did you get it when you came to Philly?

I came in to Philly with ten dollars in my pocket. We had to raise support as a ministry. We had to write letters and ask supporters to send money into our organization. So monthly I get $70 a month and that's all I get and that goes for laundry and food and everything else. And then our groceries and our electricity and our water are taken care of by our organization. Then,  yeah, that’ s basically--and we get the $70 is our stipend and that's what we get every month. So it's kind of nice in a way.

How did you adapt to your new environment?

I just did it, I can't explain, you just kind of just stay with it. You keep on trekking and don't give up. You get used to it eventually. It was hard, but its just something that naturally happened. As humans, you figure out how things work and that sort of thing.

Why do you think it was worth all your changes?

It was worth it because its been life changing. I started to understand living. The resources that I have for myself and the--from the way that I grew up--has been more important to me and I've been so thankful for that. To be able to grow up the way I did and I appreciate that much more now that I have been apart from it and how it makes me want to make a difference. That's definitely what I'm focusing on, is me making a difference in other's lives, rather than just living and that's been a change with in me and that's definitely worth it because now I want to do something else besides live.

What education did you have before/ after you arrived?

Before I graduated from high school and I have just about one year of college under my belt and that's how much I have when I leave, too. I'm starting school next year, again.

Did you ever regret moving? Why or Why not?

I guess I regretted it at first, just because it was hard to change, but now that I'm more into it. I haven't regretted it, but it's been good. It's been great and I know I did regret it at one point and I wanted to leave, but I didn't and its been fine and great and everything else.

What reason would/ could make you go back to where you came from?

Right now the reason is education. It's a lot cheaper for me to go to school in the state and closer to home because my parents can help finance with that and I can work and I also love my home. I definitely want to go back to it and I love just the Native American setting - that people growing up within that whole Native American setting has really been important to me and I want to go back and serve the people there in any way. I don't know how yet, but that's why I want to go back is to serve the Native Americans. The Navaho specifically.

Describe your first job here.

My first job was working with Bethel Temple Community Bible Church in the studio, ASAPA Studios. It's kind of been a volunteer job, but it has been a job.

Is there anything you would like to add?

No, just basically coming, relocating is definitely a challenge for a lot of people and you should meet them more often because it gives a clear idea of what the world is like rather than just where you live and where you exist.