Trip Cancelled, But LMHS Students Still Able To Help Build Schools Abroad

ARDMORE, PA — Over the past 8 years, Lower Merion High School’s buildOn group has helped students in other countries by raising funds and traveling abroad to help build new schools.

The team is part of a national organization dedicated to fighting poverty and illiteracy in other countries, while also serving neighbors in Lower Merion Township.

Last year, the students were getting ready to travel to Guatemala for their annual Trek. They were going to help build a school in Caserio Buena Vista, a village in the central part of the country.

But then, COVID-19 began spreading in the United States. Students and staff realized a trip to Guatemala wouldn’t be safe — for them, or for those they were preparing to help.

Annika Naveen, co-president of Lower Merion’s buildOn chapter, said it was disappointing to have the trip cancelled. But, the students knew they could make a difference even without being there in person.

“The pandemic hit about 3 weeks before we were scheduled to leave, and I distinctly remember how the trip just kept being pushed back,” said Naveen, a senior. “First we thought maybe we could still go on time, but as that quickly was ruled out, we planned for April...and then summer...and then next March...and then eventually it just didn't make sense for us to go anymore,” she said.

So, the students decided to send the money they had raised to their partner school in Caserio Buena Vista.

“There were a lot of tears from our students, but they knew it was the right thing to do,” said Taryn Stevens, a science teacher at LMHS and a sponsor for buildOn.

Construction was delayed for a while, but is now back on track, the Lower Merion School District said in a news article. And just last month, the Lower Merion students got to see how the money they raised was being put to use.

Naveen said the two schools connected during the groundbreaking of the new building in Buena Vista.

“It was incredible to see all of the money and time that we spent on this school behind the scenes actually come to fruition,” said Naveen, a senior at LMHS.

But the Guatemala project isn’t the only one Lower Merion buildOn has been helping with. The group also raised money for a school in Burkina Faso, netting more than $12,000 during a virtual gala. The new school, in the village of Fognie, was completed in June 2021. Photos from the West African village show kids with ear-to-ear smiles sitting at their desks, ready to learn.

“Fundraising to build schools in developing countries allows our students to think and act beyond our local community,” Stevens said. “They see the importance of education in helping to break the cycle of poverty. Being able to travel to those communities helps to establish relationships and build connections on a human level which I think is so incredibly important. I think it allows both our students and the community members to realize we actually do have so much in common despite our obvious differences.”

Along with the annual fundraisers and Treks, the buildOn students complete service projects in their own community and around Pennsylvania.

Stevens explains: “We volunteer within our community helping to maintain local trails and parks, boxing and distributing food with the Jewish Relief Agency, running a tutoring program for K-5 students (which has been virtual this year and last), working with a women’s shelter in Philadelphia, just to name a few.”

Naveen said she enjoys her work with buildOn because it is a way to serve her community and grow as a person.

“I love actually being able to see the change that we're making in this community and the ones around us, and I love being part of something bigger than myself,” Naveen said.

“I hope that the kids in it will take away important lessons about the value of service and kindness, as well as a new gratitude for what they have.”

Stevens said she enjoys building relationships with the students outside the classroom, and connecting with people across the world.

“Seeing our students helping others both locally and globally is inspiring,” Stevens said. “There is a lot of good in the world; our students prove that every day.”