During the summer, from June 26th to July 10th, eighteen students, and three teachers (Mr. Kuzenko Mr. Franz and Mr. Whitfield), along with eighteen members of St. Mary’s Academy, travelled to El Salvador on a service mission. Coordinated primarily by Mr.Kuzenko, the trip has become an annual opportunity at St. Paul’s over the last few years.
This year, St. Paul’s helped the community of La Loma begin the construction of a church. Each day began with a demanding two-hour hike up the mountain, and then construction would promptly begin. Many members worked with pick axes and shovels to dig the foundation of the church, while others worked hard tying iron rebar for the footings and pillars. Though every physical task involved in the construction was difficult, some aspects were exceedingly challenging. For example, in one area of the excavation site, a massive boulder needed to be strategically dug out and removed. Nevertheless, each work day offered a remarkable bonding opportunity. Through extensive teamwork, cooperation, and communication, a strong sense of camaraderie was developed among the members of St. Paul’s. 
Over the course of the trip, there were many opportunities to interact with the citizens of La Loma and Loma Linda (the village in the valley). For instance, an inspiring man named Adrian is the President of La Loma. As a young man in the 1980’s, he lived through a brutal massacre in his village. Yet ever since, Adrian has managed to find only hope and opportunity from each hardship in La Loma’s history. Despite having relatively little education, he has recently developed an essential irrigation system which provides easy access to safe drinking water. Additionally, Adrian has spearheaded and organized the construction of both a multi-use facility, and the new church St. Paul’s helped dig the foundation for. St. Paul’s was truly blessed to spend time hiking and working with this incredible man. Adrian’s simple humility, determination, and positive demeanor make him a phenomenal leader. Each member of St. Paul’s undoubtedly learned multiple crucial values from Adrian.
Furthermore, the members of St. Paul’s thoroughly enjoyed playing with the children from the villages. Every morning, the children met the bus at the beginning of the path, and then held hands with a student the whole way into Loma Linda. It was quite adorable to see the children continually ask for stickers, with which they would place all over their bodies. Apart from the “estickers,” attempting to communicate with the children was quite fun. Notably, it was touching to observe Mr. Whitfield spend so much time amusing the children, even teaching many to count to ten in English. At the end of each work day, most students would cool off by playing with the children in the river.
A few non-labour days were spent exploring the culture and spirituality of San Salvador, the country’s capital. For example, St. Paul’s attended two very wonderful masses, visited the market places, and toured the Romero Center at the University of Central America where six Jesuits were martyred. We also spent time at “Monumento a la Memoria y la Verdad” (Monument to the Memory and Truth) in Cuscatlan Park. This is a granite wall which honours over 30,000 innocent civilians killed during the civil war. It was incredible to pay respect to the tomb of Bishop Oscar Romero, and learn more about the violent yet relevant history of El Salvador.
Overall, the 2013 El Salvador Service Trip offered a lifetime experience to twenty-one members of St. Paul’s. Significantly, St. Paul’s helped La Loma achieve solidarity, not by working for the community, but by working with the community. Although the people of El Salvador are very poor, and have few material belongings, they are among the happiest individuals in the world. Simply playing with the children in each village gave students and teachers an infinite amount of joy. Most importantly, El Salvador’s strength of faith, devotion to God, and respect for Bishop Romero significantly improved our sense of spirituality and faith in God.