Morgan Morris, Audra Davis (11), Tatiana Gayles (11), and Cydney Moore (12) pose with children in the village Ahuachapan. 

Maria Miller

Editor In Chief

From February 15-26, twenty-eight Beta club students, parents, and LOHS faculty traveled to the country of El Salvador with the Starfish Orphan Ministry, led by Laura Roberts.  They gained a new perspective on life, the definition of love, and the true meaning of selflessness as they worked with children of all ages in orphanages and fed the needy in villages.   Some of those who went to El Salvador reflect on their most meaningful moments, of people they met, and about the trip that affected their lives.

“I strongly encourage all students, if you ever have a chance, to serve abroad.”

Nicole Walker

Day 1:  We arrived in San Salvador, El Salvador and spent the rest of the day in an orphanage called CIPI.  CIPI had several different sectors consisting of teen moms, a nursery, young boys, special needs, and teen girls.  Every night, we packed sack meals and fed over 200 people.

The “El Salvadorians” packed sack meals for those in need.

Day 2:  We spent the day at the beach with approximately 20 boys from the orphanage CISNA.  We played frisbee and grilled hamburgers.

The El Salvador group played at the beach with CISNA orphans on Day 2 of the trip.

Day 3: We drove two hours away to a village called Ahuachapan.  For the first half of the day, we set up inflatables and played with over 300 kids, of all ages.  The second half of the day we took bags filled with rice, beans, and sugar around to the houses in the village who needed it the most.

One of the kids in Ahuachapan village “cheeses” as he climbs the inflatables.

Day 4:  We went to San Martin, an adult special needs orphanage.  We brought a sound system and had a dance with the adults and handed out treat bags to the surrounding squatter’s village.  We also stopped at the AIDS children’s orphanage.  Every kid there was HIV positive.

Kelsey Tucker (12), Savannah Senn (12), and Nicki Caturano (12) snap a picture with an adult special needs orphan.

Favorite Memories

“My favorite memory from the trip was the day we went to the beach with the boys from Cisna. I’ll never forget the smiles on their faces when we were all on the beach together. That memory is only one of the thousands of favorites I have from this trip.” -Ben Lawson (12).

“When we were in the village, we got invited into a lady’s home and she gave us mangos.  She explained to us how there was a special needs child that lived next door and her mother had to carry her around everywhere.  We had an extra wheelchair we brought with us, so through meeting this lady we were able to give the wheelchair to someone who needed it.” -Steven Wooten (11)

Amy Holland, Ashley Latham (11), Alex Ellerman (11), and Cydney Moore (12) at the Ahuachapan village.

“We put on a big carnival for all of the kids in the village.  We had blow up balls, sports balls, and an arts and crafts table.  My group and I were the “games” team, and we played football with four kids: Noel, Rafael, Christopher and Alexander.  At the end of the day we gave them two footballs because they had never played it before that day.” - Alex Ellerman (11)

Steven Wooten (11), Ashley Latham (11), Alex Ellerman (11) and Adam Sims with Noel, Rafael, Christopher and Alexander.

“This was my second year going, so it was neat to be able to share stories with the students who didn’t go last year about different orphans we met the last time.  When we went to see the special needs orphans, they saw kids tied up to windows to prevent them from hurting themselves.  They met a little boy that was used for drug trafficking (they cut his stomach open to transport drugs by putting the drugs in his stomach and sewing him up.)  Seeing the emotional side of students when they heard these stories was one of my favorite moments.  My proud moment was watching the members get out there with the special needs adults and dancing to Michael Jackson songs with them, holding hands with them, and joking around with them.  Those orphans absolutely loved it, and I was very proud of the kids for giving them that opportunity.” Morgan Morris, Math teacher at LOHS

Brittany Osborne (12), poses with the nursery kids at CIPI.

“This is the second time that some of us have gone to El Salvador, so it was uplifting to see the progress made since we were there last, especially in the orphanages.  My favorite moments were seeing and recognizing people we had met the past year and seeing how excited they were to see us again.  We were able to spend time with them and help them, and that was very gratifying and rewarding.  I strongly encourage all students, if you ever have a chance, to serve abroad.  It is definitely a life changing experience.” - Brian Harper, principal of LOHS

Adam Sims, Connor English (12), Ben Lawson (12), Alex Ellerman (11), Brian Harper, and Steven Wooten (11) at the adult special needs orphanage, San Martin.

“Every day I looked forward to meeting the orphans we were to visit that day and I was happy to share the friendship and the love they sought from me and my team members.  Their situations and issues have touched me to help them live a better life and I’ve made multiple friendships that someday I hope to rekindle when I go back to El Salvador.”  -Rashmitha Edem

Rashmitha Edem (12) dances with three of the adults at San Martin.

“From the moment I looked into those eyes, a year ago, I felt a connection with a boy who gave love through his smile. This boy held so tightly onto my heart as I swung him around to hear his infectious giggle. I never wanted to let go, and I never wanted to leave him alone in that orphanage, unsure if I would ever see him again. This year when we arrived, I ran to his room, frantically looking for those eyes. I spotted him, that giggle flew from his mouth along with an “iHola!”, his arms reached toward me and I felt that love that I have been dying to give him for twelve months. I felt needed.

Dios te vendiga, Lional. Te amo mucho.” - Shelby Johnson (11)

Shelby Johnson (11) at the CIPI orphanage with Lional, a special needs child.