A group of St. Mary’s high school students learned a hard lesson that can’t be taught in the classroom.
The 12 Owen Sound students are back on Canadian soil after spending two weeks volunteering at an orphanage for the mentally and physically disabled in El Salvador.
Grade 12 student Konrad Schnurr calls the experience life changing.
He says it took going half way around the world to realize what’s really important in life, family, community and home.
Schnurr says Western society is so filled with distractions from the media and technology that we get caught up in what we want rather than what we actually need.
As for the children of the orphanage, Schnurr says they were incredible and so full of love and joy despite their hardships.
He notes most of the children will never leave the orphanage because of their disabilities.
Student Dylan Ritchie adds that you don’t have to travel to the third world to experience this type of experience.
He encourages other students to look around their community to volunteer — whether it’s with a senior citizen or at a type of outreach centre.