Back row from left to right: Mary McCarthy, Claudia Lenhart, Riley McConnell, Abbey Lobello, Helen Flaherty, Summer Conley, Tess Zentarsky, Isabella Massaro, teacher Dorrie Donahue. Front row from left to right: Bridget Deasy, Megan Nagy, Caroline Chung, Sophie Young, Grace Alexander, Abigail Cavalier, Mary Kathryn Daigle, Caroline Albecete.
On a Mission to Serve Oakland Catholic students promote faith and education in Guatemala. By Jennifer Brozak
For the fifth year in a row, a group of students from Oakland Catholic High School will travel to Guatemala on a mission trip, heeding Pope Francis’ decree that the world’ s youth must do all they can to serve the less fortunate.
The trip, which will occur in late July, will guide 12 high school girls into the impoverished and rural town of Patzún, a municipality in Chimaltenango, Guatemala. Once there, the girls and their chaperones will tend to the needs and education of students at Hogar de Niños orphanage and San Bernardino School. During the weeklong trip, the girls will teach the students English and promote the Catholic faith.
The mission trips began when Philip Miller, a professor working at Carnegie Mellon, contacted an Oakland Catholic Spanish teacher, Meghan Friday Goval. Miller had already led several mission trips to the region, and asked the school to become involved.
After the group’ s first trip in 2012, an“ interdependence” was established, says Dorrie Donahue, the director of mission integration at Oakland Catholic.
“ It is a truly beautiful partnership,” says Donahue, a consecrated layperson who will be traveling with the group for the fourth time this summer.“ The people of Patzún are simple in their pure love for God, and we’ re able to guide them in the renewal of their faith.”
The opportunity to attend the mission trip is highly competitive; approximately 40 students apply each year. While there are 12 positions available, students who have attended in the past are automatically included, leaving around six new positions available.
To be selected, students must be conversant in Spanish, participate in an interview and write a two-page essay about why they want to attend the trip.
“ It has to be clear that they’ re not just going there to build their resumes,” says Donahue.“ They need to show that they’ re committed to service, and to teaching and supporting the mission.” The experience is transformative for the girls, she says.“ The genuine joy I see in these girls is wonderful,” explains Donahue.
36 724.942.0940 TO ADVERTISE | Hampton