Thursday was one of the harder days only because it was our last day serving and we built so many great relationships throughout the week. We started our day off with a breakfast made from our chaperones and a prayer before we went to the elderly home one last time. When we got there, the staff had already set up games for us to play with them. Vince is seen passing an egg to one of the good men from the home.
After a while they got tired of playing the games with us and insisted on just watching us play games. Maybe I (Landon) could have given them a break but hey, Mr. Fox was pretty hungry.
After we left the nursing facility, we took a short visit to the Spiritan Headquarters in Puerto Rico, Sanctuario del Espiritu Santo, and learned some amazing history of the first Spiritians with Fr. Jonas and Fr. Plato.
The last day with the younger group of girls was probably the most impactful to us as we all shared our love and appreciation with each other through a pizza party and fun activities. It was very heartwarming to hear the girls express their feelings towards us as we shared a meal before we had to say goodbye. We left satisfied feeling we gave them the best versions of ourselves.
We ended our day at the beach to watch the sunset which was a very beautiful and relaxing way to end the busy week. After a few hours, we made our way back home where we finished the pizza and other leftovers we had from earlier. It had been a long week serving those in the community, but we were left fulfilled by relationships we had formed by the end of Thursday.
Wednesday was a wonderful day. We started our morning with breakfast and prayer before we headed to serve the elderly community.
While with the elderly we served them through presence and worship. We’ve learned this week that just being in a space with people can change everything. So, we were able to be with them and at the same time worship God through song and scripture. Many of them were touched and expressed great enjoyment and gratitude.
After worshiping with the elderly we traveled to La Placita de Guisin where we visited Lin-Manuel Miranda’s family shop. Lin-Manuel Miranda is a composer, actor, and writer known for creating Hamilton, as well as many other works.
Elisha and Lydia are huge Hamilton fans so this was something worth while for them. During our time there we also met Lin’s aunt, and had a small info sesh on the Miranda galleria that they are refurbishing, which is supposed to be reopened in May! We also got to see inside their Puerto Rican hall of fame where they showed off all of their famous athletes, musicians, etc. which is where we got to see our very own Roberto Clemente from the Pittsburgh Pirates shown off.
After our time there, we headed to a boy’s home for young men between the ages of 18-21. These young men all have endured unfortunate situations of various kinds. We went willing to do what Jesus would want us to do. Being the hands and feet of Jesus was transformational for the young men and us. We taught about self-esteem. Many of them engaged in the lesson and it was impactful for us all. We got to share scripture, life experiences, and worship with them. It was powerful and transformational. After the lesson and worship, we enjoyed our time with them through basketball and other activities.
Leaving them we left hopeful and grateful for all that God did.
After all was done we drove back home and Olivia and Lydia started to make an all American dinner; burger and fries!
Our second day of service was a highlight of the trip. We started out at the elderly home painting their railing.
We had pork chops for lunch and talked with the people living at the home.
Next we had a break and visited Mar Bella beach, a beach where we met wild dogs and climbed rocks overlooking the ocean.
We then went to a women’s home where we did a lesson on self esteem. The lesson included experience sharing, journal reflections, and music.
We also had time to talk with the girls individually and to play basketball and volleyball.
After serving during the day, we went back to the beach for a night swim and time alone with God. We finished the night off with a late dinner at midnight.
Yesterday no alarms went off: a great start to the morning lol. We quickly grabbed breakfast sandwiches and eggs and headed to our first service stop of the day at Vegamar Hagar where we colored, sang songs, and shared conversations with the elderly.
The host provided a delicious lunch for us and ate together. After lunch we had free time where we created our own playground amongst the trees and vines.
After we left our first service spot, we had some free time to stop by the Dorado beach.
After the beach, we headed to our second service spot which was called Sweet Home Youth Facility. We hung out with 13-16 year old girls playing basketball, volleyball, drawing, and helping with homework.
After we finished service we decided to get ice cream at Baskin Robins. We had a big group reflection with the organizers of the mission experience.
Tonight we cooked tacos, listened to music and made friendship bracelets together. Our final reflection today included a walk with partners around the home.
This morning, the group cleaned and packed-upped, preparing for the drive back to Pittsburgh. We went to St. Benedict the Moor for the 10:30am Mass, where Fr. Bill was the celebrant. After Mass, we said goodbye to Fr. Francis and some other friends we had met during the week. The group then drove back to Pittsburgh, bringing the Detroit/Dayton 2024 Mission Trip to a close. I would like to thank everyone who supported our trip and stayed along for the ride. Only Duquesne can offer students the opportunity to be a part of Spiritan Missions across and outside of the country. Even though we may only spend a week at these places, seeing firsthand the openness, goodness, and dedication of these communities makes a lasting impact on each student.
Today was our last full day in Dayton. In the morning, we drove to the National Air Force Museum, which is spread out over four massive hangars. The museum had over one hundred planes from every era. Some notable ones were a WW1 reconnaissance plane, which was more of a seat with wings than an airplane; the Memphis Belle, whose crew were one of the first to complete 25 heavy bomber runs; a B-52, famous for its role in the Vietnam War; and the first Air Force One, where Linden B. Johnson took his presidential oath while flying JFK’s body back to Washington D.C. After the museum, our group drove to Young’s Jersey Dairy, a farm distinguished for its ice cream and cheese (Jersey cows produce higher-fat milk than others). We ate lunch at the farm and met some of the goats and cows. Once finished, we returned home to rest up before dinner at Father Francis and Benoit’s house. Father Francis, from Gana, made traditional African baked Tilapia (eyes included), jollof rice, and plantains. Dinner was delicious. Father Benoit told us the wild story of how he had to smuggled himself from DR Congo to Tanzania in order to join the Spiritan seminary there. We also discussed the improvement of education in Africa since Fathers Francis and Benoit were kids. After dinner, we returned home, ending the day with board games and cards.
Hi families! Today was our first full day in Puerto Rico. We went to bed last night at like 2 am (so this morning) and we all were up for mass at 9. We walked to mass together and at mass we were recognized and we got to introduce ourselves to the congregation. It was cool getting to hear mass in Spanish. After, we went to Walmart. Going to Walmart as a large group was not easy but we got it done. We were able to get groceries and items for our mission work. Then we came back to the house and unloaded the groceries together. Once we unloaded the groceries we went to a branch of The University of Puerto Rico called Cayey.
We were able to tour the town and saw some artwork along with getting a tour of The House of Music. We were shown different instruments throughout time.
Outside of The House of Music, Landon got a photo with a famous Puerto Rican Boxer.
We then went to get food at an authentic Puerto Rican indoor outdoor restaurant. At sunset we took pictures at a river down the street from the restaurant.
The whole street was filled with vendors and locals selling bracelets, magnets, and clothing.
There was a band performing and Cherry taught us all how to dance.
We reflected on the day and are getting ready to serve tomorrow! Love, Sarah and Meghan
Yesterday, we woke up around 5:30 AM to get ready for our first flight to BWI. We arrived at the airport at 6:45 AM a little tired and groggy but excited for a new adventure. We landed in Baltimore around 10:30 AM and had to wait until 2:05 PM to take off for San Juan. We really bonded as a group in the airport over card games and movies. When we landed in San Juan we had wonderful conversations that allowed us to get to know each other much better. We started by talking about favorite movies and tv shows, as well as just talking about our lives. We arrived at our home around 10:30 PM and were in need of food. So we went to Denny’s and had a really good meal with nice laughs. When we got back everyone was so exhausted we just fell right asleep.
We arrived at the Pittsburgh Airport at 5 AM for the 6:50am flight. We got to Houston around 10:50am. First thing we did is we went to St.Benedict to grab the keys for tue ranch and met Father Brandon. We then went shopping for dinner and then ate as a family. Overall it was a great first day and ready for more fun and service!
All Rose No Thorns
We had breakfast at the ranch. We all helped make breakfast and clean. Fr Simon and Gio drove us to St Benedict around noon. We greeted Father Brandon and Father Hui right before the mass, which ended around 1:30. Vito received a birthday blessing by Fr. Brandon and afterwards, we went to the Galleria. We got kinda wet from staying there for too long but, the pictures were fire! We left to Chinatown to get boba tea (courtesy of Nick and Mike 🤠). The boba tea tasted delicious, and there were other students that never had it before. We paired that up with sweet pastries from Arandas and we soon drove to Rice University. More pictures were taken around campus and then we attended Sunday mass. Following that, we ate and talked to other Rice university students. They were insightful and had plenty of things to talk about, including how it is like to live in Texas! Team H-town finished the day by going to Buccee’s. This looked like a blend of Chuck-e-cheese and giant eagle, which I thought was awesome. We bought souvenirs and drove home to talk about the plans for the following day. Most of us had all roses and no thorns, which I strongly agree with. I noticed that everyone broke through their comfort zone today. I was happy to be given the opportunity to create more bonds with other people and try new food within a single night in Houston. W day baby!!
Back to School 🍎📚 (Holy Ghost Elementary Edition)
To start the day, breakfast was a free for all and we left the ranch around 7:50. Following that, we drove to Holy Ghost Elementary. We met the principal and one of the other employee’s named Anne. They explained to us what we needed to do for the day. We all got split off into different activities. Some got sent to clean out this closet that hasn’t seen the light of day in quite some time. Others helped the students here (pre-k through 1st grade) replant plants that died in a recent frost. The children were on the quieter side, but kind and humorous. Some Duquesne kids helped decorate classrooms. Some of us ended up doing data entry, which is putting paper student records into the computer. Records ranged from 1939 until about 2018. Duquesne kids chatted with some of the students during recess periodically. After this we are all going back to the ranch, where we will have dinner and unwind for the night. Overall a good day!
This morning we had an amazing breakfast of fresh fruit and toast. Then we left for a long drive over to Casa Juan Diego in Houston to help with food distribution. At Casa Juan Diego we split up into smaller groups and helped with various tasks. Some of us helped prepare bags of different foods to be given out to the people of Houston. Another group helped organize a donation closet in the women’s house. We also helped clean up garbage around the area. Volunteering with a foundation that works directly with immigrants in unfortunate situations shed light on a side of the world that some of us may not have seen. We were treated to Whataburger by individuals from the Spiritan Office for Mission Advancement where we learned about the possibility of mission trips in the future. After lunch we went to another Mamie George Community Center to continue distributing food to the Houston community.
What Do You See?
Yesterday afternoon we visited the Maime George Community Center and helped with more food distributions. We helped distribute various food items such as frozen meat, fruits, vegetables, bread, and canned goods. This morning we met with Father Brandon, Deacon David and a nice man named Anthony at St Benedict Church. We also met an 93 year old veteran who served in the Vietnam and Korean War. After Deacon David gave us a little talk on faith and how we grow through serving the community, we split into groups to do different tasks around the church. One helped uproot old trees around the property and another group took apart old cabinets to clear space in a room behind the stage. We shared in lunch with Deacon David and Father Brandon. Later we will be joining in the youth ministry and small group talks with junior high and high school students.
Thursday 3/8 “Early Bird gets the Worm!” This morning we got up bright and early to do our last day of food distribution at the Mamie George Community Center where we again helped with preparing and giving out food. We split up into groups and helped load various food items into the cars of the families. Tonight we are heading to the Houston Rodeo!
Friday 3/8/24 Let’s go to the beach-each
After a fulfilling week of serving the community, we allowed ourselves some time for relaxation, visiting the beach of Port O’Connor. Being almost two hours away from where we are staying, seeing the clear waters of the beach made the long car ride worth it! We were able to swim and sun bathe, enjoying time to ourselves. The contrast of animals in comparison to Pittsburgh really stuck out during this beach day. I had no idea that jellyfish lived in the waters down here, but someone got stung…ouch. The beach we visited exists in a small community, with many unleashed dogs too! One rogue, joyous dog played and swam with us. If you know this dog, tell him he’s good on our behalf. We ended this day trip with one last visit to HEB for dinner ingredients. I wasn’t there for this- but a lady was locked out of her car, leaving our campus minister Gio to help. I’m so happy that we are never done helping others, even on our days off.
Saturday March 9
Farewell H-Town 😢🫶🏾🦀🤠
Well Houston, we’ve come to the end of our mission trip. We praise God for all the stories we have shared with the community we walked along side. The bonds formed between the students who embarked on this mission are strong. Let us remember to smile and wave when we cross paths on A-walk, or reserve a table for our new found friends at Hogan Dining Center. This is the 2024 Houston, Texas Spiritan Mission Experience singing off. “God Bless you, and God Bless America 🇺🇸 “
We cannot believe we leave for Puerto Rico in just one week. We have been spending so much time together teambuilding and getting ready to serve the elderly and the youth. Stay tuned for our daily updates. We are glad to have you on this journey with us!
Spiritan Campus Ministry 