Eleven Elon students and faculty have returned from their “Fake Break” service trip to Nuevo Paraiso, Honduras.
Led by EV! trip leaders Kelly Lawrence and Tara Moore, the group worked with the Hope for Honduran Children Foundation and had one main construction project for the week – to build a classroom by laying bricks, mixing cement and raising walls. They also spent the week forming relationships with the children who’d be using the new classroom.
The classroom they helped build was the second part of the learning technology center for the boys who live at Flor Azul. The first part was completed this past July when a different group Moore was a part of built a classroom with computers that had Internet access. The newer classroom will have computers to connect to different institutions and museums in the United States to educate the boys.
More important than the construction they worked on was the relationships every Elon student on the trip formed with different children. Since Lawrence and Moore, the two trip leaders, had been there before, they said they knew the children were kind, welcoming and loving.
“The most meaningful part of the trip was to watch every single participant from Elon form special relationships with the kids. I know these hardworking and caring Elon students that came down with us will help continue the long-lasting relationship I wished to establish with our university and Honduras,” Moore said.
The boys were very appreciative of everything the students brought to them, all the generous donations that were collected around campus, and they are excited to keep meeting Elon students. Moore and Lawrence are making to plans to return in March on their own. They said they will still be looking for very specific donations such as CD players and batteries.
The service trip was sponsored by Elon Volunteers! and supported by the Kernodle Center for Service Learning.
Trip participants were:
Allison Valyo
Amanda Olmstead
Dan Shulman
Becca Pike
Ashley Gardiner
Mimi Hsu
Catherine Waters
Trip leaders:
Kelly Lawrence
Tara Moore
Trip advisers:
Raquel Cortes
Liz Bailey
– Article submitted by Tara Moore