David Caskey, Liz Schow and Robert Murphy, students at Daniel J. Gross Catholic High School in Bellevue, cut wood for a Habitat for Humanity house in Laredo, Texas. Seventeen students participated in the alternative spring break mission trip March 15-21. Courtesy photo.
Mission trip teaches teens a lesson in appreciation By LISA MAXSON Catholic Voice
Katie Peterson could have gone to Disney World for her birthday, but instead she chose to participate in a mission trip with her classmates.
"I had my mind set on going since last year," she said about the March 15-21 service trip to Laredo, Texas.
The junior at Daniel J. Gross Catholic High School in Bellevue was one of 17 students who spent their spring break building a house for Habitat for Humanity. They were part of a youth volunteer effort to complete new homes for families.
"I went into this having no idea what was going to happen. I had never picked up a power tool in my entire life, but on our last day there me and another student put in 15 kitchen cabinets," Katie said.
When students arrived in Laredo, Habitat leaders showed them how to use the proper tools, and guided them in building the house.
"What's cool about Habitat for Humanity is that they don't just have you watch. They explain it the best they can and then they let you do it," said David Caskey, a senior at Gross Catholic. "You're probably going to mess up a few times, but you're learning ... you're learning to build a house."
Gross Catholic students put trim along the roof and around the windows, did molding on the floor, installed kitchen cabinets and built shelves in the closets, put doors in place, built the pantry and dug trenches for electricity.
And after working about eight hours a day in 98 degree weather, they returned to their lodging and did homework.
"You really learn a lot about yourself, and you learn you can get along with everyone," David said. "It was really cool that we all worked together to accomplish a goal."
Habitat for Humanity seemed to be impressed by the quality of work the students did because they gave them an award. By the third day the students had already met their quota of work for the week.
Lesson in gratitude
Katie said a favorite part of the trip was meeting the family who was going to live in the house - a single mother with three girls.
Because Habitat for Humanity requires families to work 450 hours for the organization before they can move into one of the homes, the family worked alongside the students, and expressed their gratitude for the students' work.
"You can do the simplest things and they were so grateful for it," Katie said.
Cory Dempsey, a Gross Catholic senior, said the experience also helped him appreciate his life.
"I learned that there are a lot of people out there who are less fortunate than us, and we are very fortunate to have what we have," he said.
During their trip, the students were immersed into the Spanish culture of Laredo by learning Mexican dances and eating a lot of homemade Mexican food.
They also visited St. Mary's University in San Antonio, a Marianist school, where they met Marianist brothers who taught at Gross Catholic in the past.
Another perspective on life
Mikaela VanMoorleghem, director of alumni relations at Gross Catholic and one of three chaperones on the trip, said she thought the trip to Laredo was eye opening for the students.
Laredo, located on the Mexican border, is the second fastest growing city in the country, she said, and one in three people who reside there live below the poverty level.
"You take them to an area where it's 97 percent Hispanic, a very high poverty rate, and they see border patrol and Homeland Security. That's an experience for these kids to see ... that there is a whole other world out there that is very, very different from where we live," VanMoorleghem said.
"These kids go to a school where most parents pay for their tuition and they have cars and their needs are met. Then go to a town where a majority of the population does not have their basic needs met."
She also said it's important for Gross Catholic students to give back to the community through service.
Cory agreed.
"I think it's something everyone needs to experience in their life ... to see poverty they might not see in their own hometown."
