By Isabell Macrina
Hometown Weekly Staff
During their February break, nine Needham High School students traveled to Central America to be a part of something bigger than themselves.
Down in Tululché II, Guatemala, the students joined Boston-based nonprofit School The World to play a hands-on role in the dedication of their 200th school.
The mission behind School The World is to disrupt extreme poverty through the power of education. They accomplish this through the power of dedicated volunteers, and an engaged and excited community. Their support doesn’t stop after the school is built either. They aim to train educators, provide much needed resources like books for their libraries, and expand the schooling offered after primary education.
These trips are also designed to instill empathy and understanding in high school students, for them to step outside their comfort zone and work up close and personal with these communities towards a common goal.
Students like Sara Franco found out about the nonprofit while attending an in-person information session held through the school. After traveling to Panama with them the year before, she was eager to go on another Student Service Trip with School The World and help another community. The connections she made with other students and the chaperones were unique; she would never have met the students from other schools otherwise, and the chaperones were so passionate it fueled the trip.
“Everyone who signed up really wants to do it,” Franco said. “You’re going to grow from it and change people.” She encouraged anyone interested to consider signing up. Things will not go exactly to plan, but you will gain new experiences you would likely never have again.
What stood out to Nina Barzilay was the welcoming energy the community brough and how much education was a priority for them. Everyone was so eager to help build the school and have a safe place to educate their children, it was an eye-opening experience for her.
“These are resources we have all the time and take for granted,” Barzilay said. “Why aren’t we happy like this?”
She reflected on the potential we have as people to make a change in a community like this. The children of the community were so excited to be involved, have a school to learn in, and were so resilient given the circumstances they grew up in.
Kenley Myers felt much the same way.
“Even being a small part of it is inspiring,” she confessed. “It doesn’t feel like manual labor, you get to spend time with all these people and see a lot of this firsthand.” With a passion for STEM, Myers expressed her fueled desire to advance in the field in order to help people. “There are so many possibilities, even if its one little thing.”
All the students had so much to share about their trip and the life-changing experiences they had with School The World. Immersing themselves in the community, getting invited into these homes and helping them build an education institute truly shaped some new perspectives on the world for these kids. Their impact in Tululché II will affect both communities going forward, home and abroad, and make some lives brighter in the process.
