Being Xaverian - Our Lady of Good Counsel High School

HAITI
Students Gain a Greater Awareness of Self and the Importance of Helping Others in Need
Reading and playing games
with orphans, comforting
infants and children at
rehabilitation centers,
gathering supplies for
schools with minimal
resources, these are just a
few of the deeds performed
by our students during
service learning and
immersion trips organized
this past spring and summer.
Every year Our Lady of Good Counsel High School
students search for opportunities to live out the Xaverian
mission and make a difference for the less fortunate.
The campus ministry does an amazing job developing
and planning opportunities for students to have an
impact, not only on the local community, but also all
around the world.
Last spring, students and faculty members spent one
week in Hinche, a city located in central Haiti that is one
of the poorest areas in the western hemisphere. Junior,
Daniel Weidner, one of six students on the trip, noted the
extreme difference in environment – disheveled markets,
meat and fruit laying on the ground, a little girl trotting
on an old mule. Even more surprising to Weidner, nothing
was “one-sided”– it was just as important for the locals
to get to know us as it was for our group to get to know
them. When asked to describe how this experience
impacted his life, Weidner reflected, “perspective,
motivation, and happiness to serve.”
“The main difference between the Haiti trip and the other
service trips is that we did not go to build things. This trip
is all about being with the people of the country and
understanding their daily struggles,” said ana Lopez, a
long-time teacher of Good Counsel and trip chaperone.
She continued, “and because of that, the trip was an
extremely emotional experience for everyone who went.”
While in Haiti, the group stayed with Xaverian Brothers
Mike McCarthy ’62, Bill Griffin ’62 and Harry Eccles at
Maison Fortuné, their orphanage in the city of Hinche.
The group spent the week interacting with the 250
orphans at Maison Fortuné and visiting the Azil, a
rehabilitation center and hospice. At the Azil, the group
aided The Little Sisters of the Poor in feeding and caring
for the infants and children there.
“The standard of living is so different. Things as simple
as sewers are taken for granted in America,” commented
audrey Fangmeyer ’13, a senior who was part of the
group.
Lopez was also amazed by the selflessness of the people
of Haiti. She explains, “The city was in shambles. People
don’t have enough to eat…but each person’s faith and
willingness to give of oneself was truly an eye-opening
experience that I will never forget.” ✦
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