A story about Simeon Swaby, an 8th grade student, given the opportunity of a lifetime.
(Simeon, 2nd from the left)
By Alex Kantuni
He was an 8th-grade student at school on a regular day when one announcement and one decision made a huge lasting impact on his life. It was an ordinary day at St. Patrick’s Episcopal Day School when all of a sudden, the whole 8th-grade class was held from leaving the cathedral after chapel. An announcement was made to the 8th grade about the possibility of a trip to their sister school in Haiti. Only a select few students were going to get the opportunity to go on this trip. To qualify, each student who wished to apply needed to submit an essay outlining why they wanted to go on this trip. A young Simon Swaby spent the day contemplating whether or not he would apply for the trip. The decision was tough as Simeon had never been outside of the country without his family before, let alone a third-world country. Even as an 8th grader, Simon knew that often, other countries are misrepresented because information spreads and changes, just like in a game of broken telephone. Wanting to make sure that he is educated in international affairs and fearing letting a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity slip through his fingers, for his peace of mind, Simeon decided to apply for the trip. Although he never expected to get chosen, Simeon put a lot of effort into his essay and handed it in. As time went by, Simeon even forgot about the application, but to his surprise, when the results came in, not only was he chosen for the trip, he was also the only 8th grader chosen. He was so surprised when he got his acceptance letter that he didn’t even understand what the acceptance meant. But eventually, as the letter sank in, he got very excited about the trip. The next while in school was spent getting ready for the journey. The students learned basic phrases in Creole and purchased supplies to pack for the journey. Packing, however, was not what Simeon was used to. They had to pack light as they would not have a lot of space to store their luggage, and they had to pack unique supplies such as flashlights and solar charges as technology/electricity was not as widespread in Haiti. Eventually, the long-awaited date of the trip came, and the group set out to Haiti.
Arriving in Haiti, the first thing that Simeon noticed was that many people were walking in the street and that the airport was not too far from the city. This was new to him as neither of those things are common in the United States. Simeon described his first impression of Haiti as a more relaxed and less structured United States. After regrouping, a van was ready to pick up the group and take them to where they were staying. The school they were visiting was at the top of a mountain, and the drive there was beautiful. The road was a windy one that was surrounded by the beautiful green flora of the Haitian mountains. However, as they ascended the mountain, the streets got narrower, windier, and more dangerous, not to mention, the lack of streetlights resulted in little to no visibility of the road. Finally, after a long trip, the group arrived at their destination, which was a house/shack which consisted of an outdoor area for dining, and the inside included a kitchen, bathroom, and two bedrooms, one bedroom for the owners of the house, and another for the Simeon and his five other classmates. This is where they would be staying for the duration of the trip.
For the next 2-3 days, the kids went sightseeing. They went into the city, the surrounding towns and even went to a nearby farm and learned how Haitian towns have to rely on themselves for food as they don’t have enough resources to import food as the United States can. However, the rest of their trip was focused on going to St. Etienne School and interacting with the children there. After breakfast, Simeon and his classmates would walk to the school and spend time with the kids every day. They got to help teach the Haitian kids English and, in turn, got to pick up a little Creole. They learned/played the ukulele together at times. And once in a while, they would walk down the hill to have chapel.
During the interview for this article, Simeon stated that this was the only trip he had ever taken where he truly felt that he made an impact. He felt that being able to teach the kids in Haiti English and help the community in which he was staying impacted their lives. However, Simeon wasn’t the only one who made an impact; the community also made an impact on Simeon. Coming back to America, his perspective was changed; it was the first time Simeon realized that the world is much more than just America. He truly got to experience what the world was like outside the bubble, he got to see a different way of living, and this new perspective allowed him to better understand the world around him. While Simeon didn’t feel that he was instantly different after his return from the trip, he knew that it ignited a spark that started to fuel the fire of his development as a person, and he came to understand how big the world truly is and how even though we play a small role in it, the actions which we choose to take, can cause a significant ripple effect. When asked if he would take another trip like this, Simeon, without hesitation, answered that he would. He said that he is a person who “can’t sit idly by when bad things are happening in the world,” and it is his goal to help people, which this trip accomplished. Today, especially in the world we live in, Simeon finds that his experience going to Haiti still influences his outlook on the planet.
These volunteer programs are vital and leave an immense amount of positive impact on the world. The local communities benefit from these programs vastly because they help provide the local kids with an education and because the “modern” western lifestyle starts spreading around the community through the volunteers who live with the locals. And the volunteers also gain immensely from this experience because not only do they get to learn from the locals, they also get to leave their comfort zone, and they teach others in non-traditional ways, which in turn leads to their own growth and development. And overall, these types of programs help rid the world of misconceptions and prejudice. These programs are still happening today, and many more are opening up, so volunteer today if you want to be like Simeon and make the world a better place!
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