Students from Catholic Central and West Catholic high schools in Grand Rapids traveled to Seguin, Haiti, for their spring break – but apart from traveling to warmer weather, it was not a typical spring break trip.
The students were part of a group traveling with the organization Haiti Needs You, founded by Tim Ryan, a parishioner at Holy Spirit in Grand Rapids which has a longstanding twinning relationship with the Parish of Seguin. The main mission of Haiti Needs You is recruiting medical and dental professionals to travel to Haiti and share their talents with the poorest of the poor, but Haiti Need You also brings college students and high schoolers to Seguin on mission.
This year’s high school group flew to Haiti on March 29 and returned to Grand Rapids on April 7. A focus of the trip is distributing water filters to give people access to a clean drinking supply. Students from Holy Spirit Catholic School helped pay for the water filters through an Advent fundraiser that collected $1,742, enough to provide the life-saving filters to 58 Seguin families.
This year’s mission trip also included building a rock wall to prevent a man’s basement from flooding, putting tarps on houses to help people stay dry, attending Mass with the people of Seguin, and sightseeing in Seguin and Port au Prince. Missioners updated a blog throughout the week, which you can read at this link.
Catholic Central High School serves more than 630 students in 9th through 12th grade. Learn more here.
West Catholic High School serves more than 500 students in 9th through 12th grade. Learn more here.
Holy Spirit Catholic School serves more than 270 students in preschool through 8th grade. Learn more here.