Divine Savior students visit Peru on mission trip

Divine Savior students visit Peru on mission trip
Divine Savior students visit Peru on mission trip
The volunteer group, including (l to r) Alicia Cappellaro, Paula Crespo, Genesis Henriquez, Monica Coloma, and trip leader Erika Biesterfel join a villager in Arequipa, Peru.

By no means was this your typical “girl’s get-away weekend” – instead, for four Divine Savior Academy students took a trip a trip of a lifetime to do good work for people in need in South America.

Accompanied by DSA student alumni, the volunteers traveled to Arequipa, Peru, to provide much-needed translation services. The group included Alicia Cappellaro, Paula Crespo, Genesis Henriquez, Monica Coloma, and the school’s International Program Coordinator Erika Biesterfel.

Because all four students are fluent in both Spanish and English, they were called upon to help bridge the language gap for U.S. organizations wishing to send food, supplies and other support to such impoverished areas.

American nonprofits and other organizations are effective at gathering money, food, and supplies for the needy. However, one crucial step in the process is often missing – the ability to deliver supplies into the right hands. Rather than just drop off supplies in the destination country, sponsors and organizations wish to make direct connections with the intended recipients. It’s often impossible to do that when they are not speaking the same language.

That’s where this DSA student group stepped in. During their week-long mission trip in October, they were able to facilitate effective delivery of supplies – but students’ skills also allowed sponsors to effectively expand their efforts along the way through the forging of same-language relationships and connections with other potential in-country recipients.

“Participating in this act of service was a powerful experience for our students,” said Biesterfeld. “I know they grew not just in their worldview, but also on a spiritual level while participating in this mission trip.”

This past summer, the school also took eight students to the island of Antigua to clean-up a school, assist teachers with classroom preparation, and help a blind man rebuild his home after a devastating fire.

Organizing mission trips isn’t the only way Divine Savior encourages acts of community service. The academy requires all students to earn volunteer hours in order to graduate. Last year, students and families participated in the Doral Police Department’s annual food drive, they gathered supplies for Ecuadorean earthquake victims, and they gave a mission offering to an orphanage in Haiti.

“In the end, students learn to serve and experience the blessings of service.” Biesterfeld added. In past years, students have launched a school-supply drive upon noticing so many perfectly good supplies were being disposed of at the end of the school year. Others assisted a nonprofit organization in gathering crayons from local restaurants and other schools to send to orphanages.

With campuses in Doral and Delray Beach, DSA is part of one of the largest private school systems in the country with more than 165 years of educational experience. The Doral campus provides college-prep academics in a Christian environment and serves students from 3 years old to 12th grade in preschool, elementary school, middle school, and high school.

For information or to schedule a private tour, contact DSA at 305-597-4545 or visit www.divinesavioracademy.com. DSA is located at 10311 NW 58th St, Doral, FL 33178visit DivineSaviorAcademy.com.


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