This girl.
Headed off on an adventure of a lifetime on Thursday.
She headed off with an organization called HEFY to Dominican Republic where she will serve a small community there helping to build an addition to a school, and teaching English to children. Their group of 20 kids ages 16-19 will break into groups and rotate between the worksite and the teaching the kids.
Zach went last year with HEFY to Cuenca, Ecuador (you can read about that here, and here, here, and here). He had the time of his life and it seriously was a life changing experience for him. Both Josh and Sam are excited to pick their own HEFY adventures when they are 16.
Zandra’s trip was scheduled right after her exams, so didn’t give her much time to prepare, although she was all packed the weekend before! She didn’t know anyone, but had been on the group chat that they set up talking to people ahead of time.
She slept at her Mom’s the night before so we met her at the airport at 4am so she could hop on her flight to Miami to meet the group there before travelling on to Santo Domingo. The airline woman at checkin was less than friendly and proceeded to make comments like “She’s travelling on her own? Miami is a confusing airport, especially for a 17 year old girl travelling on her own!” Always amazes me the negativity and fear some people try to instill. Why not say: “You are travelling on your own for the first time? That’s awesome! You got this! And if you are nervous or run into difficulty, then just go find one of our agents and we will gladly help you out!”
Anyhow, luckily Zandra does have this. She’s been through enough airports and travelled enough foreign countries to know the drill (she laughed when the women said Miami was confusing (she’s been to Miami airport twice) and said to me: “You think Miami is confusing, try Cambodia”. That-a-girl! You so got this. She’s also not a shy person when it comes to asking questions or getting help.
She headed off into the security line all smiles, bubbling with excitement and some quick hugs.
We chatted while she was on the plane for a few minutes just before takeoff, just reviewing some last minute details and she was off!
Next we heard she had landed safely and checked in her baggage. She met up with her group and that was it!
At the airport, they hand over their phones so they can really live in the moment, be connected with those they are with, and focus on the service they are providing and relationships they are building.
We aren’t completely out of touch though. HEFY leaders send an email letting you know they arrived safely and are well, and the leaders post pictures daily of their group adventures on instagram. The first weekend is a bit of a vacation so we saw them boating, snorkelling, dancing and socializing. Looks like she is having an amazing time already! (And it looks like her trip leaders are posting way more pics than Zach’s did so that makes it much easier too!). Here’s a few samples from their Instagram feed (you know I’m gonna want to document them all:))
How awesome does that look??
HEFY is such an incredible organization. We had the opportunity to visit them at their head office in Utah in the spring and were so impressed with all the planning and organization that goes into these trips! Everyone was super nice too! They are doing such a great thing building up these youth and serving those communities they visit. They have parent leaders on every trip and of course, I’m dying to go, but I know it’s so good for my kids to do these trips solo. I really believe they are life changing trips and I am so excited for Zandra!
