Mission Trip Helps Seniors Bond with One Another as They Serve Others
Four planes. Six days. Eight service projects. Ten piñatas. Forty-six seniors. Hundreds of enthusiastic children.
These images and descriptions may sound random, but together, they encompassed perhaps the busiest, yet most impactful week for the class of 2017. This year’s Senior Mission Trip to Nicaragua is one that produced lifetime memories I believe no one will forget. We were able to serve the elderly, the imprisoned, the disabled, the poor and the abandoned.
These images and descriptions may sound random, but together, they encompassed perhaps the busiest, yet most impactful week for the class of 2017. This year’s Senior Mission Trip to Nicaragua is one that produced lifetime memories I believe no one will forget. We were able to serve the elderly, the imprisoned, the disabled, the poor and the abandoned.
Words cannot do this trip and our collective experience justice. Not only were we given the opportunity to work and serve like we have never done before, we were able to grow closer to our peers and stronger in our faith. For me, what I experienced started seven years ago, on my first international mission trip.
When I was in fifth grade, my family and I flew to Nicaragua and participated in mission activities, similar to those on our senior trip. One of my favorite tasks was working at the Chinandega Orphanage for Girls. There was an adorable five-year-old girl who played with us each day and wore her hair in a “waterfall” on top of her head. Her name was Maria José, and she had big, beautiful brown eyes and a smile that stuck in my memory. I knew that I would never forget her, but little did I know that we would be reunited seven years later on my senior mission trip.
Fast-forward six-and-a-half years to early fall 2016, when it was announced that we would be serving at the same orphanage where Maria José resided seven years ago. I was ecstatic. While it was heartbreaking to realize that she might still be in the orphanage, I was overjoyed that we would be able to rekindle our friendship. Days before leaving for the mission, I searched through my photos and found a photo of the two of us to bring to Maria José.
Three days into the mission trip, the day finally came when we visited the orphanage. By this time, I think my fellow missionaries knew how excited I was to see my “amiga” again. When we arrived at the orphanage, I thought I saw a girl that resembled Maria José. But this girl was not a little girl anymore. Instead, she was a young woman helping the other small girls and taking the lead. When I saw this, I was filled with so many emotions at once. I approached her, introduced myself, and showed her the photo. After talking for a few minutes and showing the others the photos, we were inseparable. I cannot adequately explain the joy I received by reuniting with Maria José. The next couple of hours that we spent together were amazing. We sang songs, played games, made bracelets and colored pictures. When the time came for us to leave, we both promised that we would not forget each other, just as I had said seven years ago. I cannot wait to return again and reunite with my sweet friend.
The joy that I received from serving at the orphanage and being with Maria José is only a small sliver of what my classmates and I experienced on this incredible mission and through the various projects. We poured out our hearts to everyone we encountered and just loved them. When I look back on this mission, I will not think about the scorching temperatures or how my room did not have electricity. No, I will think about the beautiful children begging to be held and loved, the glimpses of hope we saw in the prisoners’ eyes when we celebrated Mass with them, the smiling faces when we brought families food, and the compassion shown at the home for the disabled. I will remember seeing a new side of my classmates, uniting in service, giving their whole selves, overcoming difficulties, pushing aside complaints, and being filled with incomparable happiness. What an amazing way to spend some of our last days together as a class. It was an experience I will never forget.
Danielle "Dani" Madda is a senior and has participated in many service projects during her years at Pinecrest. Next year she will give a year of service to the Church before entering college in the Fall of 2018.
When I was in fifth grade, my family and I flew to Nicaragua and participated in mission activities, similar to those on our senior trip. One of my favorite tasks was working at the Chinandega Orphanage for Girls. There was an adorable five-year-old girl who played with us each day and wore her hair in a “waterfall” on top of her head. Her name was Maria José, and she had big, beautiful brown eyes and a smile that stuck in my memory. I knew that I would never forget her, but little did I know that we would be reunited seven years later on my senior mission trip.
Fast-forward six-and-a-half years to early fall 2016, when it was announced that we would be serving at the same orphanage where Maria José resided seven years ago. I was ecstatic. While it was heartbreaking to realize that she might still be in the orphanage, I was overjoyed that we would be able to rekindle our friendship. Days before leaving for the mission, I searched through my photos and found a photo of the two of us to bring to Maria José.
Three days into the mission trip, the day finally came when we visited the orphanage. By this time, I think my fellow missionaries knew how excited I was to see my “amiga” again. When we arrived at the orphanage, I thought I saw a girl that resembled Maria José. But this girl was not a little girl anymore. Instead, she was a young woman helping the other small girls and taking the lead. When I saw this, I was filled with so many emotions at once. I approached her, introduced myself, and showed her the photo. After talking for a few minutes and showing the others the photos, we were inseparable. I cannot adequately explain the joy I received by reuniting with Maria José. The next couple of hours that we spent together were amazing. We sang songs, played games, made bracelets and colored pictures. When the time came for us to leave, we both promised that we would not forget each other, just as I had said seven years ago. I cannot wait to return again and reunite with my sweet friend.
The joy that I received from serving at the orphanage and being with Maria José is only a small sliver of what my classmates and I experienced on this incredible mission and through the various projects. We poured out our hearts to everyone we encountered and just loved them. When I look back on this mission, I will not think about the scorching temperatures or how my room did not have electricity. No, I will think about the beautiful children begging to be held and loved, the glimpses of hope we saw in the prisoners’ eyes when we celebrated Mass with them, the smiling faces when we brought families food, and the compassion shown at the home for the disabled. I will remember seeing a new side of my classmates, uniting in service, giving their whole selves, overcoming difficulties, pushing aside complaints, and being filled with incomparable happiness. What an amazing way to spend some of our last days together as a class. It was an experience I will never forget.
Danielle "Dani" Madda is a senior and has participated in many service projects during her years at Pinecrest. Next year she will give a year of service to the Church before entering college in the Fall of 2018.
