While most teens go on a vacation, hang out with friends, or simply just relax and enjoy summer, sophomore Tian Strege and senior Divya Minnaganti wanted to do something different, to leave a mark on the world. “This summer I didn’t just want to sit around in my room watching Netflix, I felt that I should be helping others,” Strege said.
After her sister took a mission trip from past years to Acuna, Mexico with her church, King of Kings, she recommended Tian go too. She knew that this was the perfect way to make a difference.
Strege had been on many vacations in the past. However, this was going to be a trip out of the ordinary, one like no other.
“This was not my first time leaving the country,” Strege said, “However, it was my first time in Mexico. I didn’t really know what to expect.”
After taking two days to drive and making a family-like bond with her new mission trip team, which included her sister and mom, Strege finally arrived in Mexico.
Right when they got there, they started building houses for families in need and Strege even learned how to pour concrete, nail walls together and make stucco (a concrete mixture). Strege and her team visited a stream in Mexico and got to cool off and have fun after all of the hard work that they had put in. And while the trip was out of the country it wasn’t the typical vacation.
“This trip was most certainly not a vacation; it took some hard work. But it was truly amazing and surprisingly fun,” Strege said.
The trip lasted a total of seven days. Strege spent four days traveling and three days building homes for people in need. But the whole time, she made memories that she would never forget.
“The thing that impacted me the most was giving the house to the family in need. While it may not have been large, they were so grateful and happy to h

Strege experienced something that many people will never get to see in their lifetime. This is an experience that is life changing and will give many stories to tell in the future.
“This mission trip really changed me, it opened my eyes up to the world and the people that were suffering in it,” Strege said.
She had the opportunity to help those in need and make a difference. And if given the change, Strege says she would definitely go back again.
Strege was not the only person wanting to make a change this summer. Divya Minnaganti went on a medical volunteering trip with the organization, Projects Abroad, that manages many different projects, in fifty various areas around the world, with volunteers of all ages. Minnaganti went to Sri Lanka where she got to work in medical camps and underprivileged areas.

During the trip Minnaganti went to high schools to talk about healthy menstruation with girls, visited preschools to discuss healthy lifestyle with the children, and so much more.
“The best thing about the trip was definitely the people that I met along the way. They made it so much more bearable because they would put a smile on your face in any situation,” Minnaganti said.
She got to experience the different lifestyles and culture that takes place in Sri Lanka, and how different it is compared to America. Minnaganti stated how she saw how different the economic statuses were there and they don’t even have everyday needs like air conditioning or hot showers.
“It was good to see a different and harder lifestyle because it has taught me to be grateful and showed me all the things we tend to take for granted,” Minnaganti said.
This also was not her first time traveling outside of the country, along with Strege she had been to other places before. However, it was her first time ever traveling outside of America by herself and she got to experience a great variety of different aspects of the world along with it.
“Of course I would go back, I miss Sri Lanka a lot and I definitely love how they incorporate their culture into everything they do,” Minnaganti said.
Both of the two trips that these girls went on were life changing and something that many people will never see. It shows how much other places around the world are different than us, but most importantly that we have people wanting to go out and make a change.
To read more about other summer trips that PCH students took this summer, go to pchcorral.com. online website for more.