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The Piedmont Highlander

The Piedmont Highlander

Students scout the world through summer volunteer trips

Students+scout+the+world+through+summer+volunteer+trips

mingwei1colorSoaking up the sun, navigating tropical waters, and exploring ancient ruins. Instead of going on the usual family vacation, students chose to dedicate their summer vacation volunteering overseas.

Sophomore Mingwei Samuel volunteered for three weeks in Fuji through Wilderness Ventures over the summer.

Samuel said he did community service work such as moving invasive star fish, planting coral, and painting a school. He also did vacation activities like swimming, scuba diving, and touring.

“We stayed in multiple different hostels and some local houses in the villages,” Samuel said.

Samuel said he does not speak the native language Fujian, however, communication was not difficult because most people in Fuji speak English.

“I learned that people in Fuji are super nice,” Samuel said. “People should be nicer to each other and the world would be a nicer place.”

Samuels reccomends the program and would do it again himself.

Senior Betsy Perkocha traveled with a program through the Piedmont Community Church to Malawi, Lesotho, and Zambia. 16 people went on the trip, 10 being high school incoming seniors.

“We stayed the night at a Malawian’s home, cared for orphans [and] widows, worked in hospitals and more,” Perkocha said. “In Lesotho we spent a week working in a crisis nursery and built a chicken coop. We spent two days in Zambia on a safari.”

Perkocha said that working in a daytime nursery in Malawi greatly impacted her. She said that she bonded with a three-year-old girl, who she thought was very confident and intelligent.

“While thinking about the opportunities that she has versus those of a child growing up in Piedmont, my heart sank,” Perkochas said. “A girl in Malawi will most likely not attend college or have a high paying job, but a girl in Piedmont will most likely do both.”

Senior Erica Peterson traveled to Udon Thani, Thailand, and Laos this summer for two weeks with a program called Rustic Pathways.

“I taught children how to swim, cooked meals for locals, [and] taught Thai students English. They ranged from preschoolers up to high schoolers. I planted rice for local farmers, [and] I built a home,” Peterson said.

Peterson said on the last day at the base they went to a local high school to teach English, and each student taught 30 Thai students.

“It was challenging because they did not know a lot of English,” Peterson said. “But it was fun because it forced me to use my Thai to be able to communicate with them.”

Peterson said that she volunteered with people from countries all over the world, such as Norway, Dubai, South Africa, Hong Kong, Japan, Spain, Turkey, France, Ireland, Denmark, and Canada.

“I stay connected with them through Facebook,” Peterson said. “One friend I made there actually lives in San Francisco so we hang out every once in awhile.”

Peterson said that she would go on the trip again.

“It allows you to travel almost anywhere in the world and experience things you would never experience if you travelled to the country by yourself,” Peterson said.

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