During the spring break of the 2016-17 school year, three De Soto High School students traveled to Nicaragua for a mission trip through Westside Family Church. The students who went were senior Sydney Jones and juniors Camille Poulain and Whitney Wegner.

The girls were in the country from March 12-18, five days, four of which included doing ministry with children as well as the elderly.

“We did multiple vacation Bible schools for the kids and also went to an elderly center and prayed with and talked to the people there,” Wegner said.

In the first few days, the group constructed houses in the town of Tipitapa. They also worked in delivering food to families living in the jungle areas.

“We built three houses, each roughly the size of a classroom,” Poulain said. “We worked with a feeding center up in the mountains to distribute food to families that are more poor than other parts of town.”

Poulain was most impacted by the shock of different culture in Nicaragua and believes that leaving the country is something that is important to gain better perspective of the world.

“[The most impactful part for me was] being able to get outside of the American bubble, understanding and experiencing a different culture that is different than ours and learning to adapt and see a new perspective of things,” Poulain said.

Poulain also encourages any person who has doubts about going on a mission trip to go on one and experience another country as well as its culture.

“I would say absolutely go for it, even if you never thought you’d want to go on a mission trip, you should,” Poulain said. “I think it’s important for everybody to experience a different culture and step out of their comfort zone to love people and give to people without wanting anything in return.”