Two Special Union Catholic Students Travel to Haiti During the Holidays

Scotch Plains, January 10, 2014— Julia Hayes ’16 and Logan Guzman ’14 recently spent their Thanksgiving volunteering at orphanages in Haiti, a different experience than that of most American teenagers. This was the second time in a four-month period that the two friends traveled to Haiti to teach, feed, and play with the children at Julia’s aunt’s orphanages. The two taught children English and math classes and helped run the Saturday program where many of the neighborhood children would come to get a hot meal, vitamin, and a bible verse.  Logan also taught the kids soccer and helped a local pastor rebuild houses that were lost in the earthquake. Julia and Logan very clearly demonstrate UC’s core value of compassion.

The Thanksgiving trip was Logan’s second trip, and he had to use the money he was saving to buy a car to pay for his travel expenses. Logan noted that it was during his first trip this past August that he knew he would be making a second trip. He promised the children, who were all so sad about his leaving to go back to the States, that he would be back. He said that as soon as first saw the children in the orphanage, “they jumped all over me, hugging and kissing me. I felt as if I had known them for my whole life…” He added that those kids taught him more in a short period than he had learned in his whole life.

Julia shares Logan’s sentiments and has now traveled to Haiti 9 times over the past two years. She has loved the experiences, but also noted that it can be very sad learning what the children dealt with before coming to the orphanage. On one of her previous trips, she went to the house that one of the boys in the orphanage had been found in. She was horrified to see that it was made of sticks and unbelievably tiny. His parents had left him there to starve. Luckily, since staying at the orphanage, she reports that he went from being a malnourished 12 pound 1.5 year old to a healthy and happy boy.

Julia’s mom and aunt Diddi’s organization is called Mission Haiti Helping Kids, which is now an official 501(c )3 nonprofit organization. As of December, there were 29 children living with them in two different homes in Haiti.  For more information on Mission Haiti Helping Kids, please visit the website at www.missionhaitihelpingkids.org .

For 50 years, Union Catholic High School has earned its reputation as one of New Jersey's foremost Catholic secondary schools. For information, visit unioncatholic.org.