Credo High School students prepare for life-changing trip to Mexico

Twelve high school students, 10 days and 2,500 miles equals a once-in-a-lifetime trip to support a grassroots organization to assist 650 impoverished children in Oaxaca de Juarez, Mexico.

Spanish-language class students from Credo High School in Rohnert Park, are heading to Oaxaca de Juárez, Mexico in June for a unique summer experience. The trip will be an educational service experience with the goal of preparing meals, assisting with classes and activities in addition to immersing themselves into the culture and practicing their advanced level Spanish language skills.

The Credo High School students will be led by Spanish teacher Daniela Gundling who as a student herself, volunteered in Tijuana, Mexico doing service work in soup kitchens and migrant homes and found the experience “life-changing.” She feels that by bringing these students to Mexico “each one will have an opportunity to be touched by the rich culture, important mission, generous spirit of the school staff and have the chance to build empathy for the day-to-day struggles faced by the Oaxacan students and their families.”

Ms. Gundling opened this trip to all advanced-level Spanish students. She has ensured that anyone interested in attending regardless of financial ability would have the opportunity to participate. That being said, the group is in the midst of a variety of fundraising efforts in order to achieve its $20,000 financial goal. A portion of the money raised will be donated to the Oaxaca-based school to support day-to-day expenses.

If you are compelled to support these students please visit their GoFundMe page.

During their time in Mexico, they will partner with the Oaxaca Streetchildren Grassroots (OSG) organization founded by Jodi and Harold Bauman. While on vacation in 1996, Jodi and Harold were concerned about the number of children, they saw roaming the streets and began by helping one family enroll their children in school and continued to help other families do the same. Their efforts kept growing and they realized they could help more families and children by chartering the OSG nonprofit. This organization has given hundreds of the poorest children the chance for education and social services that they need and the opportunity for a bright future.

When asked why this trip is important student Isaiah Morabito shared, “Reading and writing about different cultures can be useful but is only the tip of the iceberg. Experiencing different cultures firsthand, making connections, and meeting new people will help us open our minds and grow. The connections we will make in Oaxaca will be with us our whole life and a full immersion experience will support our growth and awareness of people beyond our own bubble.”

Volunteering will take up most of the days of the trip, but the group will have a chance to visit local sites. Designated as a UNESCO World Heritage site, Oaxaca is a very culturally rich place, with continued influence from the Zapotec, Mixtec and the 16 other indigenous communities that have been living in the city longer than it had the name Oaxaca.

Student Kendelle Lannert stated she is “looking forward to experiencing the history, culture, people and food. I am hopeful that traveling to another part of the world and immersing myself in another way of living, will open my view of the world and perhaps offer me a clearer direction as to what I want to focus on when I graduate from high school and head to college.”

The future may not be clear for these students but surely this trip will offer them a chance to put theory into practice while making a positive impact beyond their current comfort zone.

For more information on the organization that the group will be volunteering with, go to oaxacastreetchildren.org.