A group of 11 students from Gibault Catholic High School returned last month from a mission trip to the Dominican Republic as part of their senior service project, going to make an impact on a community in need of water and undoubtedly leaving have been hugely impacted themselves.

Lauren Niebreugge served as one of the adult chaperones of the trip. Traveling with her oldest son, she also played a major role in getting the trip together in the first place.

She recalled how the mission trip’s organization began toward the end of her son’s junior year. As Niebreugge said, trips like this in the past stood out to her among the other annual senior service projects which primarily see students helping different organizations within the community.

“It’s just so different than a lot of the service projects that we do domestically,” Niebruegge said. “I really felt like, before he goes to college, it’s important for him to realize how blessed he is, and I don’t think you can realize that unless you have a front-row seat to the reality of how other people live.”

To get the ball rolling, Niebreugge said she got in touch with Dawn Grohmann at the school, as she and her husband Ryan have likewise contributed greatly to past mission trips, and they served as a font of knowledge for when it came to finding an organization to partner with. They also joined as chaperones this year.

The group ultimately partnered with BLUE Missions, a nonprofit focused primarily on connecting rural communities with clean water.

Niebreugge spoke highly about BLUE Missions, noting how organized they made the trip in general and the project construction during the trip.

Regarding trip prep, she also spoke about the substantial amount of fundraising that took place in order for things to be accessible for the students.

After a successful trivia night in November, the students asked for support from local parishes through pulpit talks. Along with some generosity from individuals and organizations – including the Waterloo Optimist Club which has often supported such trips in the past – Niebreugge said the trip was largely taken care of at no cost to the students.

The mission trip was no vacation, however, as the two-week visit to the Dominican Republic involved two major projects, the first of which was bringing water from the top of a mountain to the community the students and chaperones found themselves in.

“Our hiking skills were put to the test on day one, and we were all nervous about the physical demand that this trip may have right away at the beginning, but the good news is it got better from that point,” Niebruegge said. “Once we got to the source, we helped build a water tank.”

Along with setting up the concrete tank, the group put together the PVC piping that actually brought the water to the community, digging the trenches for the pipes as well.

This work was followed in the second week by the construction of 14 latrines. Niebreugge remarked on how proficient the students got with this construction as they worked well with the assisting homeowners and followed the instructions from BLUE Missions.

The service is naturally a major part of the trip, and while Niebreugge spoke about how this work hopefully helped put the students on a path of further service, she also discussed how impactful simply staying in a place so different from home was for them.

She pointed to the lack of electricity and, of course, running water. If students found themselves needing to visit the bathroom at night – away from the cots they were resting in inside a simple house shared by one of the folks they were helping – they had to step outside and be careful not to slip in the mud from the rainy weather on their way to a latrine.

This living situation was juxtaposed by the positivity of the people they encountered during the trip.

“The conditions were hard, and I think it really gave us the perspective that we were all looking for,” Niebruegge said. “The people in the village were extremely happy and joyful.”

She emphasized just how notable this positivity was, as well as the sense of community the students saw.

Students particularly enjoyed their time as they were around the local children, especially when they were playing baseball or walking them to school.

“The children were also a key part of this trip,” Niebruegge said. “They were overjoyed to have us there. Our high school kids did such an awesome job playing with them, and when we weren’t working, we had several hours of downtime where we could enjoy the children when they were out of school, so we brought coloring books, bubbles, so many card games.”

One of the students who participated, Mia Petruso, offered her thoughts on the trip, recalling how the mission trips always stood out to her when she heard upperclassmen discuss their senior service project experiences.

“My sophomore year, there was a group that went to the Dominican Republic, and I remember watching their video and hearing them speak about it,” Petruso said. “Just the amazing work they did and the interactions they had with people, it was clear that they made such a difference. There’s a lot we can do within the community, but really going on an international mission trip I really think is a kind of once-in-a-lifetime experience for high school students, and I was really excited and inspired by hearing what the previous class had done.”

Like Niebreugge, Petruso spoke about how difficult but rewarding the work was, with the service truly made possible thanks to the people she was striving to help.

“The work was some of the most difficult work I’ve ever done, but reflecting on it, I was able to get through it because of the locals in the community,” Petruso said. “They were incredibly welcoming. We were there to serve them and help them, but they were helping us along the way too.”

Petruso also spoke quite a bit about the community she saw, emphasizing how close everyone she met was compared to folks back home.

“One of the biggest impacts that I’ve had back home is remembering how present the community was with each other,” Petruso said. “They got together every night, and they were just interacting, hanging out with each other. It was really cool to see that they weren’t distracted by all the things that we are in every day life. It was really inspiring to see the way that they cared for one another, and all the children got along so well, and all they wanted to do was play and have fun with us. They were really the happiest people I think I’ve ever met.”

Niebruegge reiterated just how significant she expects the trip was for the students who were able to participate.

“I think that it’s a life changing experience, and I expect that they don’t even fully realize it, even now,” Niebruegge said. “What we just did, I think it was a gift that will keep on giving. I don’t think they’ll ever forget it, and I think that as they progress through life, it will continue to benefit them because we’ve planted a seed of service, a seed of perspective on how blessed they are with all the little things.”

Looking to the future, she noted her anticipation for her younger children to enjoy their own mission trips when it’s time for their senior service projects.

She also voiced plans for future trips to continue working with BLUE Missions given how smooth, safe and organized the trip proved to be.

Petruso also offered words of advice and encouragement for younger Gibault students who might be wondering what to do for their service projects.

“I think everybody should go on a mission trip if they have the opportunity,” Petruso said. “I’ve really been trying to share my experience. I know I’ve probably annoyed my family talking about it so much, but it was just such a great experience, and it was clear that what I was doing was making an impact on the community, and they made an impact on me.”