Beginning last year, Gibbons added something new to their melting pot of school trips, Misiόn Maya.
Although it was among the three missionary trips offered, Misiόn Maya was the only international one with a destination to Cancún, México. Of the 13 students who got the opportunity to participate in this unforgettable experience, I got the chance to be in attendance along with educators Fr. Luke Rawicki, Emily Andino, and Miguel Casas. For this reason, I’ve decided to share our accounts and hopefully give you some insight as to why this trip being offered at Gibbons is undeniably special.
On the surface, it might seem as if these newly-added missionary trips are similar to other school excursions, though there is something special that sets them apart from the rest: their core of faith, service, and leadership.
Although yes, we did get to fly to another country with our friends, swim in incredibly scenic cenotes (a natural pit exposing groundwater), and shop for souvenirs, at the root of our trip we got to serve in a close-knit Mayan community, which I don’t think I speak for myself when I say, was an incredible experience.
Recapping What We Did
We started the trip off on the right foot by visiting the sanctuary of Our Lady Undoer of Knots, asking Our Lady to intercede for our safety and guidance during the trip.
The next day we drove over to the town of Tres Reyes, a small Mayan community southwest of Cancun where we’d be staying for the next seven days.
Once there, every day looked a bit different though we did have a routine. Our mornings started at 7:30 with scripture and journaling which was followed by work. Work (or service) looked different for everyone every day. We were tasked to tackle two main projects, one which was helping build a place for ecotourists to stay at our hostess’ house, Lucy, and the second which was to help finish concreting the walls of the local high school.
After our morning work, we’d eat lunch at Lucy’s then head back to work for a couple more hours. After our mornings of service, we’d have most of our afternoon for leisure which typically consisted of playing with the towns’ kids, swimming in the local cenote, or getting to spend time hanging out at Lucy’s whilst she prepared lunch.
After our leisure time, at around 7:00 p.m., we’d head over to the church in the center of the town for our daily mass, bringing the kids of the town along with us. After mass, we’d meet back at Lucy’s’ for dinner and have our final reflection of the day, which usually consisted of sharing the highest and lowest moments of our days and a prayer of the rosary. There was something special about this time, when we were all together, tired and sweaty but also laughing and accomplished. Getting to hear what everyone else experienced that day was always fun, even if we had done the same things, everyone’s perspective always added something different to the table.
Lastly, to wrap things up on our last day of the trip we had a more tourist centered schedule. That day we got to visit and explore Mayan ruins in Coba, swim in a bigger cenote than our daily one and visit the clear blue waters of Puerto Morelos.
Not only were these experiences incredibly unique, they also gave us a chance to create unforgettable memories with each other and form unexpected friendships.
“I didn’t know you before (Barbara) and now we’re really good friends, I didn’t know how close we were going to get,” said Amelia Smith (class of 2025).
Although at times difficult and demanding, Mission Maya had a rewarding and eye-opening impact on myself and all those who attended. Hopefully, this will become a long lasting tradition at Gibbons and strike a newfound love of faith, leadership and service for those who roam its halls, unknowing of a calling bigger than themselves.
“Mission trips awaken in everybody but especially young people, purpose and give them a lot of hope that they can make a difference and impact on the world. It’s also kind of an eye-opening experience for them,” Fr. Luke said. “ It awakens a desire to continue serving.”
Personal Accounts
What was something that you found unexpected about the trip?
“I saw you building meaningful relationships with the local students… I know that’s going to happen but every time I see it happen it’s so new and so beautiful because you see God at work in the students, said Fr Luke.”
“How I bonded with the kids. I wasn’t expecting to have such a good relationship, especially since I didn’t speak Spanish,” said Senior Lauren Schafer.
What was your favorite moment?
“Going to the Cenote every day and just the walk there, which was exhausting but it was fun… I also feel like I made a lot of new friends and got a lot closer to people I already knew,” said Senior Leilani Ortiz.”
“Definitely riding on the back of Philipe’s motorcycle. (A local town man who helped us work on the high school.) I didn’t think I was ever going to do that, or ride a motorcycle in my life so that was just an awesome experience,” said Schafer.
What would you tell someone considering going on Misiόn Maya in the future?
“Put one hundred percent into every aspect of it and just go into it with an open mind and being able to know that you have to adapt. Know that it’s very different from your normal life, like sleeping in a hammock,” said Conlin.
“Do it. Every experience you can, just do everything,” said Smith.
“Be open to new experiences and be open to helping people… be open to going through challenges, going through difficult roads and overcoming that,” said Schafer.
