Alpha Phi Omega members spend fall break in Honduras
The members of Alpha Phi Omega stand outside their hostel in Villa Soleada, Honduras during their fall break service trip.
By Madeline Travell, Staff Writer //
Members of High Point University’s co-ed service fraternity, Alpha Phi Omega, recently completed a trip to Villa Soleada, Honduras, a village just outside of El Progreso, for the purpose of improving classroom conditions for children of this community. Michael Curtin and Ellen Barker, APO’s treasurer and fellowship vice president, respectively, organized the trip. Together with the organization Students Helping Honduras, the two officers worked to plan this mission, during which fourteen APO fraternity brothers (all members reffered to as brothers) devoted their fall break to making this remote corner of the world a little bit brighter. During their eight-day visit, the APO brothers were busy building enclosed classrooms for the children of the village.
Alpha Phi Omega volunteers help build and paint classrooms in Honduras to provide better learning environments for children.
Students Helping Honduras is a program where groups of young volunteers who want to make a difference come together to build classrooms that they hope will promote education and encourage the village children to learn skills that will help to keep them from getting into trouble. A college student, Shin Fujiyama, came up with the idea of the program after experiencing a service trip to Honduras himself. After his graduation, Fujiyama and his sister Cosmo created the program as a 501(c) non-profit organization. The Students Helping Honduras’ website mentions the founders success: “In 2009, [Fujiyama] was named a CNN Hero and was featured on CNN, CNN en Español, Larry King Live, and national news stations in Honduras for his work in the country.”
The classrooms that the APO volunteers helped to improve will serve the two orphanages of the village. Before the visit from the APO volunteers, the classrooms were poorly constructed rooms consisting of little more than a roof, drab walls, and dirt floors. In inclement weather, classes often had to be cancelled. APO volunteers laid concrete floors and painted the walls to brighten the classrooms with the goal of providing a better environment for learning. In total, APO volunteers installed floors for three different schools and painted two of the three schools.
Planning for this community service mission began long before the volunteers set foot in Honduras. This planning was largely comprised of fundraisers conducted months before they left. “We dorm-stormed for money and school supplies, sold pizza and donuts on the weekends and at night, and had a benefit night at Barberitos,” Curtin said. These fundraisers helped raise money to support a significant portion of the cost of the trip.
This mission trip was APO’s first visit to Honduras, and after their success with the project the fraternity looks forward to future community-building efforts with Villa Soleada. The time spent abroad working hard and giving back not only helped the community, but also provided a bonding experience for the members.
“My favorite part of the service trip was spending time with my brothers and friends outside of the country with little to no distractions,” expressed APO President Zachary Hynoski. “Although we worked extremely hard all week, it was a nice ‘break’ from school.”
By giving their time during fall break, APO helped give the children in the orphanages a greater opportunity to obtain a meaningful education in a better learning environment. Not only did their work have a lasting impact on the community and children, but on the members of APO as well. Together they give children a brighter future and themselves a new understanding of what it means to help and serve others. Without the help of mission trips like APO’s, it would be difficult to find the volunteers needed to complete these projects.