CHS student preps for Panama service trip

Sierra Porter loves working with young children. The Canton High School junior said she has done “a lot of babysitting,” and she enjoyed working for Kids Camp, first as a junior counselor and then as a counselor for two years. As the oldest of five, she has also had plenty of experience with her younger siblings. When her boyfriend, Griffin Gasdia, a senior at Hanover High School, told her last year about his interest in a travel program for high school students to help build schools in Central America and work with local children, she was inspired and decided she wanted to get involved as well.

Sierra Porter and her boyfriend, Griffin Gasdia, is headed to Panama in February as part of a service trip offered through School the World.

Porter will be traveling to Panama with School the World, a Boston-based nonprofit, for a week in February. The organization offers trips to Guatemala and Honduras in the spring and summer; Porter said she chose Panama because it worked with her schedule.

She already has some familiarity with Central America through living with her stepmom, Daisy Salamanca, a native of El Salvador. While Porter herself has never traveled there, she feels connected to Salamanca’s family in El Salvador through photos and hearing descriptions of life there. Porter said that her Canton family periodically sends clothing to help them out. “When I receive photos of these family members it helps me remember the lavish life I live compared to theirs,” she said.

School the World describes itself as a “community-driven nonprofit committed to solving extreme poverty through the power of education.” Focusing on rural poverty in Central America, the organization collaborates with local community leaders, teachers, and parents to build schools and playgrounds. It also distributes learning materials and coordinates teacher training programs and parent programs. The funds raised by high school students who travel with the organization help subsidize the costs of building projects, and their muscles and energy assist with completing the projects.

The online application process, Porter said, was fairly easy, requiring photos and an essay. She noted that the only difficult part was making sure her essay didn’t exceed the word limit. She learned she was accepted within a week.

Porter is working hard this month to raise funds for the cost of the program. She needs a total of $3,750; so far, she has $2,603. With the deadline of January 1 fast approaching, she is feeling some pressure but noted she is unsure about organizing bake sales and raffles at school as suggested at a meeting held for students going on the trip. “It’s a little bit tricky, asking for money in school,” she said.

More comfortable with social media, Porter has created Instagram posts on her project. That plus asking family members and friends for contributions has brought positive results. “I’m making good progress,” she said. She also plans to discuss possible fundraising efforts with an events coordinator at Orchard Cove, where she is a member of the waitstaff.

Porter will be attending more meetings in the weeks to come before departure. Topics will include the history and culture of Panama and other details to know before the trip. Porter said that her personal preparations will include strategies for managing the early mornings, adding that she hopes melatonin will help her get some decent sleep.

The trip itinerary in Panama calls for early morning breakfasts before the bus takes the group to the construction site. In the afternoons, there is time scheduled for cultural activities and working with local children. Porter is looking forward to playing games with them; she hopes that the Spanish she has picked up at home and learned formally in class will help her to communicate. In off hours, she plans to do some photography, primarily as an aid to the realistic drawings she does as an Advanced Placement art student.

Porter said Gasdia has some construction experience, but she has none at all. Her main goal is getting to know the children who will be going to the school. “I thought it would be really cool to make a big difference in the life of kids who haven’t had much education, especially in the last two years,” she said.

To make a donation in support of Porter’s trip, go to donate.schooltheworld.org/fundraiser/4292570.

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Posted by Candace Paris on Dec 23 2022. Filed under Features. Both comments and pings are currently closed.