By Lauren Thom ’18 | Staff Writer

While most students spent their summer vacation lounging by the pool, spending time with friends, or relaxing at home, a select few dedicated their time to making an impact in other people’s lives.

John Meier ‘18 left for Buenos Aires in late June, where he spent three weeks doing service work and hiking through different parts of Argentina and Chile.  

Meier, along with 11 other high school students from across the East Coast and counselors Joel Berdie and Ceci Cerrilla, traveled to South America through Overland, an organization which focuses on trips dedicated to service work as well as fitness and field studies, Meier said.

Some of the volunteer work Meier said he did in Argentina was speaking to other high schoolers in English for several hours a day.

“We spoke in English to people that lived in Argentina to help them with the language and told them about the culture in America, and what Americans think of Argentinians,” Meier said. “It really changed my outlook on life knowing that I helped change another kids view on life who lives in another country.”

The group spent the first five days of the trip in Buenos Aires where they took Spanish classes from a native speaker and did the majority of the service work, Meier said.

After volunteering and speaking with the Argentinian kids, Meier said realizing how difficult it can be for people that are less fortunate had the greatest impact on him.

“They’re not as fortunate as us and it’s hard for them to get some things and we take that for granted,” Meier said.  “It made me appreciate other stuff more.”

As for Ryleigh Carrier ‘18, her mission trip had a greater impact on her own life; more than she ever thought she could do for anyone else.

Carrier traveled to Cuba at the end of June with a group of 30 students and 10 chaperones through the Grosse Pointe Memorial Church Youth Group.

Carrier said the group traveled to different churches, attended a variety of church services, and visited a disabilities center.

“The trip was more about making connections while we were there, that’s what our focus was on, with the people,” Carrier said.

The group also worked on a non-profit farm harvesting many fruits and coffee, and all the proceeds from the farm went back to the communities in Cuba, Carrier said.

“We also went to an orphanage and painted the inside wing of the day care center, we had to scrape all the paint off first then paint over it,” Carrier said.

Carrier said many people from South also went on this trip so bonding with new people was a great addition to the whole experience.

“I knew of people that went to South, I wasn’t really close with them, so I think one of the best parts was getting to know people that you would see but never really bothered to talk to,” Carrier said. “Now when I see them, it’s not really awkward because I spent a whole week with them in a foreign country.”

Carrier said one of the most memorable moments she had while in Cuba was when her group visited a Presbyterian church and spoke with several Cuban people.

“I remember the translator told me this old lady said to me ‘I’m very poor but I’m very rich in my heart’, so it was very sweet.”

Carrier said even with the language barrier it wasn’t difficult to make connections with the people she met.

“That really touched me that someone in a country who doesn’t have much of anything feels so thankful and grateful for the people she has,” Carrier said. “It really makes me think about all that I have and all the opportunities that I’ve been given.”

Carrier said that in her opinion mission trips are meant to help other people, but they usually end up having just as great of an impact on the volunteers.  Mission trips make a person reevaluate themselves and helps them towards a self discovery, Carrier said.

“It does inspire you to do more, and you see problems in other countries that are different than your own, that you want to bring attention to and help fix,” Carrier said.

Halle Mogk ‘17 spent two weeks in Tanzania with 27 student volunteers and three mentors, through an organization called Global Leadership Adventures (GLA).

Mogk said the trip was focused on teaching, and GLA founded multiple schools in a district in Tanzania about 10 years ago, so student volunteers continue to go back each year for mission trips.

“We built, rebuilt, painted and furnished classrooms for half the day, and the other half of the day we spent teaching so we were in the finished classrooms with the kids that were in school on those days,” Mogk said.

Mogk said she felt satisfied to have been able to help people that are less fortunate because it felt good to know that what she was doing was helping someone else.

“I always say that it’s equally for you as it is for them, it’s an experience for you, it makes you feel good just to know that you’re helping them,” Mogk said. “Seeing things that we would take for granted that they’re so appreciative of, it’s humbling.”

Mogk also traveled to the Dominican Republic last year through the same organization, so mission trips are something she has become very interested in, she said.

“(this trip) makes me want to travel abroad in the future and keep doing this kind of thing outside the country, and with the focus of volunteering because I think it’s beneficial on both parts, for them and yourself,” Mogk said.