By EDWARD HUSAR
Herald-Whig Staff Writer
Two high school students from the Quincy area learned lessons about helping others during separate mission trips to developing countries this past summer.
Sarah Arnold of Liberty High School and Tatiana Holdiman of Quincy High School participated in humanitarian "mini-service missions " sponsored by the Alliance for Youth Service, a nonprofit organization based in St. George, Utah.
Arnold spent about two weeks in Brazil, where her team of volunteers rebuilt homes destroyed by mudslides. The group -- consisting of five teenage boys, 12 girls and three adult leaders -- also painstakingly dug ditches by to help divert water from key housing sites.
"It felt really great to finally get that done," Arnold said.
Holdiman was a member of a group that traveled to the Central American country of Belize. The team built an addition onto a school so the children of Corozol could receive government funding to have a computer in the school for the first time, said Kit Neppl, a spokesman for AYS.
"The children are the future of Belize, and I hope the computers they can receive with the provided space will improve their quality of education," Holdiman said in a news release issued by the agency.
Arnold told The Herald-Whig that she and Holdiman happen to be best friends who both attend the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Quincy, but they went in different directions on their mission trips.
The girls later got together to compare notes and gave a joint presentation to church members about their experiences.
Arnold said the mission trip had difficult moments, but she found it to be a fulfilling adventure.
"I've always been the type to do service projects," she said. "Growing up in my church, we did them on a regular basis, and it sounded really cool to do this. It was something new to try."
Both girls raised money to pay for their mission trips.
AYS organizes humanitarian missions each year for American youths to developing countries such as Peru, Fiji and Tonga. Neppl said this year alone, more than 300 youths ages 16 to 19 took part in two-week trips. The students were divided into 14 separate groups.
AYS Founder Glenn Bingham said the motto of AYS is "changing lives through service." He said most participants feel their life does change from their experience helping others who are less fortunate.
"It just kind of opens your perspective," Arnold said.
AYS plans to accommodate up to 450 youths on mission trips next year, Neppl said. Applications will be accepted this fall. More information is available at www.ays.org or by calling (435) 674-6666.
-- ehusar@whig.com/221-3378
