Horicon Students Reflect on Service Trip to Guatemala

Last month, from June 19-25, 16 Horicon High School students and five chaperones traveled to Guatemala for a service trip with Hug It Forward.
Hug It Forward “facilitate[s] education and awareness around improved trash management methods via the construction of bottle classrooms. Bottle classrooms are constructed using eco-bricks, which are plastic bottles stuffed with inorganic trash.”
“Participants… have the privilege to work side-by-side with these communities on their bottle school projects, as well as hear first-hand about immigration and the 36-year-long Civil War,” writes Hug It Forward. “This trip is as much about learning and connecting with the community as it is about helping to build the school.”
Students who participated in the service trip, including Diego Rodriguez, Tessa Nicolaus, and Owen Muche, echoed this sentiment.
Rodriguez spoke for everyone when he said, “Guatemala was simply life-changing… I knew that it was going to be a good experience, I just didn’t expect it to make such an impact on my life moving forward.”

Nicolaus and Muche also saw it as a great opportunity to travel and experience a new country and culture while also helping those less fortunate than themselves.
“From the moment we arrived, we were greeted with immense hospitality from everyone. It was shocking to see everybody being so nice,” Rodriguez shared. “When we eventually got to where we were building the school, all the students were sitting outside waiting for us. And when they saw our bus pull up, they erupted with excitement. It was a moment of pure happiness from both of us.”
He further explained that they performed a welcome ceremony, and a closing one at the end of the trip, which was one of the highlights for Nicolaus, as well.
As described by Hug It Forward, students and chaperones were truly working side-by-side with the community. Rodriguez said, “Without hesitation, almost every kid…was helping out. Seeing all the little kids running around, helping, and taking pride in building a school for their community was extremely eye-opening.”
While the group worked hard, they also played hard, with Muche sharing, “The most memorable moments from the trip were most definitely spending time with the kids there and playing games with them.”
Rodriguez agreed, sharing that he would miss playing soccer and basketball with the kids.
Also, just as described, students learned about the community they were staying in. Rodriguez reflected on his experience during a walking tour and shared the lesson on migration the students learned. “There are some people who want to come to the United States in order to give themselves and their families a better life. The fact of the matter is, it is simply not that easy. There are kids in Latin American countries who leave their homes at the age of 15 in hopes of securing a better life. And sadly, it doesn’t always work out as intended,” he explained. “Hearing some of these stories seriously changed the way that I look at the world. I’m 18 and I would be terrified if I had to do something like that, leaving my family and not knowing if I was going to come back. It makes you realize how much we all take for granted in our everyday lives.”
And that was just one take away the students had from their trip. Rodriguez added, “I used to complain about going to school almost every day, but visiting Guatemala has made me realize that gaining an education is a luxury most kids in the states don’t realize that we have.”
Muche had similar thoughts, saying, “I learned that we here in the U.S. truly have a gift from God, and that we are blessed to have the opportunities that we have because not everyone gets to have the opportunities that we have here.”
After seeing what life is like in Guatemala, where some people are living in poor conditions, Nicolaus learned, “Life is what you make it. You don’t have to have a whole ton of stuff in order to have a good life.”
Rodriguez added that even the people that were struggling would still turn to them with a smile.
It was hard for the group when it came time to say goodbye at the end of the week.
Nicolaus appreciated the fun memories and connections she made with her fellow classmates, chaperones, and others, and it solidified her desire to become a teacher.
“As we were leaving and everyone was giving each other hugs, one kid said something that will stick with me forever: he didn’t just tell me goodbye, he said, ‘hasta pronto,’ which translates to ‘see you soon,’” Rodriguez said. “I think that I connected with that phrase so much because after the experiences I had, I would love to go on another service trip, and I believe so should everyone else.”
“Since October 2009, more than 140 bottle schools have been completed at an average cost of $8,500 per classroom, and at any given time, Hug It Forward has 3-5 bottle schools under construction,” Hug It Forward says.
To learn more about Hug It Forward, visit www.hugitforward.org, and to learn more about bottle school trips to Guatemala, visit www.servetheworldtoday.com.