Guatemala trip is eye-opener for teens
By Scott Alessi
Staff Writer
When a group of teenagers from the Diocese of Metuchen embarked on a week-long service trip to the Diocese of Santa Rosa, Guatemala, they expected to work toward improving the lives of the Guatemalan people.
Instead, when they returned home it was the 14 young people whose lives were deeply impacted by the experience.
The teens were part of the second annual youth trip to Guatemala coordinated by the Office of Youth and Young Adult Ministry and Catholic Charities, Diocese of Metuchen, Solidarity Team. The youth were joined by seven adults on the visit to Santa Rosa, which took place from June 29 to July 6.
Michael Wojcik, director of the Office of Youth and Young Adult Ministry, said that while young people may be aware of poverty that exists in their own country, the trip allows them to see what life is like for people in other parts of the world.
“In youth ministry, what we are trying to do is to provide opportunities for kids to see locally how people are struggling in their lives as well as to see what it is like in a third-world country,” he said.
Wojcik added that interacting with the people of Guatemala has “deeply touched” both the teens and the adults who have traveled there.
“You really get an enlarged heart because you are encountering these people who don’t have a lot, if much at all. Yet they are very welcoming and happy to see us,” he said. “It causes us to be more open and more hospitable to people and to realize the value of having relationships.”
Michelle Paster, a parishioner of Our Lady of Lourdes Parish, Whitehouse Station, was among many of the teens who were surprised to find out how harsh the living conditions were in the villages they visited.
“My initial reaction when we got into Guatemala City was, ‘Wow, this is just like a center city in the United States,’” said Paster, 18. “But once we got into the villages and got closer to the people it was like nothing I had ever seen.”
Paster said that even though the people were living in severe poverty, she was amazed by how welcoming they were to their American visitors.
“Their faces would just light up when they saw us,” she said. “They were just very generous and very giving of themselves and what little they had.”
Gina Viola, 17, added that she too was initially surprised to see the quality of life in the villages, but the experience has helped her to better appreciate the comforts of her own life.
“It was an eye-opener,” said Viola, a parishioner of Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish, South Plainfield. “If something bad happens you can look at them and see that they have it 10 times worse, so it puts things in perspective.”
Many of the teens also said that they developed close bonds with the people they met during their time in Guatemala.
“They were really welcoming and easy to connect with,” said Lena Oshinskie, 15, a parishioner of Sacred Heart Parish, New Brunswick.
“These people I knew for just a week and I already had better relationships with them than I do with people I see just as frequently in America, just because of their sense of hospitality and friendship,” she said.
Although building relationships is the primary focus of the trips, Wojcik said, the teens also worked on additional projects, such as constructing a water tower to bring running water to the village of San Antonito, planting fruit trees and presenting scholarships to support the education of local children.
Since returning home, the teens have begun planning for various fundraising projects throughout the diocese to fund additional scholarships and the ongoing water project.
The youth delegation will be making presentations at parishes to encourage others to get involved in the Diocese of Metuchen’s Global Solidarity Partnership with the Diocese of Santa Rosa.
They are also making preparations for Santa Rosa Bishop Bernabe Sagastume’s upcoming visit to the Diocese of Metuchen, which will include a reunion dinner with the bishop and a youth Mass.
