ShawneeDispatch.com

For Brigitte Clark, spring break was more than a break from school.

As a member of the Oceans of Mercy mission trip to South Africa this past week, the high school junior said she already knows the experience will impact the rest of her life.

“The trip was pretty much life-changing,” Clark said. “It was so amazing.”

It was the third year that Oceans of Mercy has taken students on a spring break trip to South Africa, and this trip lasted 12 days, with the group leaving March 12 and returning Monday morning. On this trip were 32 area residents, a mix of adults and teens.

Students on the trip included Clark, Courtney Colin, Brianna McNeal, Alex Robinette and Jessi Stephenson from Mill Valley High School; Brent Agee and Jameson Colin, eighth-graders from Monticello Trails Middle School; Kaylen Connor and Rachel Lindholm from Shawnee Mission Northwest High School; and Celeste Banks from Shawnee Mission South High School.

Oceans of Mercy was founded by Shawnee resident Schaun Colin, a native South African, and seeks to help children affected by the HIV/AIDS virus in South Africa through a children’s village and partnerships with other orphanages. The group has recently been expanding its efforts in the South African community at large, to increase knowledge of and prevent the spread of the disease.

The main focus of the trip was a camp for 96 orphans in Jeffrey’s Bay, South Africa, called the JBAY Indaba, which means “important meeting.” All of the orphans were in Oceans of Mercy’s child sponsorship program, and the volunteers got to talk to the children about how they view themselves, the choices they make, images in the media and the truth about sex.

“Our deal was to get these kids away from their environment and talk to them about some real important issues that affect their lives,” Colin said.

“Most of these children had never been out of their townships or homes, let alone to a camp,” added Tracy Johnson, who volunteers as an event coordinator for Oceans of Mercy. “They sang, danced, ate, and had small group discussion time, play time, crafts, ocean time and lots of love.”

The group also spent two days doing home improvement projects at an orphanage the organizations supports. Then they spent another day working in three soup kitchens Oceans of Mercy helps support.

One day the team broke up into groups to visit the homes of people living with HIV/AIDS in the township of Motherwell, to hear their stories and encourage them. The group also went to the township’s cemetery to give them an idea of AIDS’ impact.

“The earliest grave was 2002,” Clark said. “As far as the eye could see in both directions, there were graves. It shows you what AIDS has done in Africa. Schaun Colin told us it’s like 9/11 happening every day; it was really surreal.”

Colin said there was a little bit of time for fun – they visited a game preserve, and most of group got to bungee jump off the highest bungee jump point in the world at 730 feet.

“I believe it was a consensus that the group received so much more than we gave,” Johnson said. “The experience changed lives for both our group as well as the children we touched.”

Post a comment

ShawneeDispatch.com doesn't necessarily condone the comments here, nor does it review every post.
Read our full policy. Also, read about banned accounts and harassing comments.

Requires free ShawneeDispatch.com registration.