JUNE 2022:
I don't know how we raised 3 kids into adulthood before hearing about HEFY {now known as Humanitarian XP} for the first time. Adam is the one who came home talking about it after hearing about it from friend sometime in early 2020. HEFY / HxP is basically a humanitarian experience for youth that has programs all around the world, where they do sustainable service projects in local communities and also do some sightseeing in that part of the world. Both Adam and Ellie were instantly intrigued as soon as they heard about it.
Adam went full speed ahead with planning and earning money for a trip to Guatemala for summer 2020. You will not be surprised to find out that that trip (nor any other HEFY trip) happened that summer...
Then came 2021 with high hopes. Ellie was old enough this time around, so she threw in her lots and ended up getting assigned to a trip in Ecuador; Adam got Thailand. They were both very excited, but COVID was still very much a factor, so it remained touch and go about how things were going to go down. Ellie actually ended up getting to go to Ecuador and had an amazing time exploring the Galapagos Islands and helping to build a women's center. She helped make and sell homemade facemasks to fund her trip.
Adam's planned trip to Thailand, on the other hand, ended up being quite the roller coaster. First he got switched to Colombia for COVID purposes. Then the Colombia trip ended getting canceled for political unrest. And that's how he ended up in the US Virgin Islands for his trip.
It wasn't as exotic as he'd hoped, but it did end up also being a great experience helping to paint an orphanage and do some playing on the beautiful beaches there. Sadly he ended up dislocating his shoulder while playing, but he was okay (after a trip to the ER) and was able to still help with some of the work after his injury. He sold cookies and got a job to help fund his trip.
So, when 2022 rolled around, Ellie was excited to sign up to go on another trip. This time she got assigned to the Southern African country of Malawi!
Getting her ready proved to be a little stressful with the traveling we did in the weeks leading up to the trip (Spain and Hawaii) and
with all that was going down with my Dad at the time, but, with the help
of Heather, we were able to get things squared away eventually. The most stressful part was the visa. For whatever reason, her visa application didn't get approved immediately like most of the others' did. It sounds like the HxP had to pull some strings to get it to go through, but thankfully it happened.
The participants put away their phones for the entirety of the trip, so
while they're gone, the only contact us parents have, is what the trip
leader posts on the trip instagram page. That meant that while they're gone on their trips, I am absolutely glued to Instagram looking for any update I can find that mentions or shows a picture of Ellie...
Rather than reinventing the wheel, I thought it might be easiest to just post the screenshots from Instagram exactly as I saw them....
They worked and played hard....
And got to go on a safari {the second one of her life}...
When I asked Ellie what some of her favorite memories were, and here's what she said:
1.She absolutely loved the Malawian people --there were tons of kids all around the worksite and they helped them with the work, played with them during their breaks, and brought so much joy to their days, There was a young girl of about 11 (named Inafi (?)) who, each morning upon their group's arrival to the worksite, would run up calling for Ellie and give her a big hug and tell her how much she missed her.
2. She absolutely loved all the animals they saw on their 3-day safari experience. They stayed in a safari camp, where there were monkeys everywhere. They'd hover around the tables waiting for scraps to be dropped or thrown their way and then go through the dirty dishes after meals looking for any uneaten treasure. One day, during mealtime a group of elephants walked nearby. They went out to get a closer look and were taken off-guard when they came around a corner and were only a few yards from the elephant group. The elephants seemed as surprised as Ellie and friends were and both started backing away at the same time. One of her favorite memories was a very sketchy hippo boat tour they went on. There were hundreds of hippos, swimming all around and even underneath the boat. Her favorite memory was of seeing a hippo open its mouth wide and snap it shut quickly, like a game of Hungry Hungry Hippos. Hahah.
3. Ellie also loved how cheap the souvenirs were and came home with a whole bunch. :)
4. Ellie loved attending the LDS ward there and loved that they got to participate in it fully. Ellie gave a talk one of the Sundays she was there and fellow trip members gave prayers, led the music, played the piano, taught lessons, etc. It was a very cool experience for them to be a part of and she loved getting to know the people better.
5. She really enjoyed the cliff diving.
6. She loved the camaraderie they experienced on the bus drives.
Some more notes from Ellie:
Each trip has two young adult and two parent leaders who come along as chaperones. Ellie didn't really connect with the parent leaders, but the young adult leaders were amazing. The female young adult leader actually had been a missionary in Virginia. She never served in our ward, but we definitely remembered her from her serving in wards in our same building.
Looking at her pictures, it was hard not to reminisce on
our trip to Uganda in 2019/2020....Honestly, I wished many times over that I could have gone with her...
Unfortunately, I didn't feel like I could commit with the uncertainty with my Dad's health and getting Adam ready for his mission....
I am a firm believer that these kind of experiences can be life- and perspective-changing...
...and I am very grateful that Ellie was able to have this kind of experience.
If you (or your child) has an opportunity to go on a trip like this, I HIGHLY recommend it!
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