DuBOIS – As a slideshow of photos depicting poverty stricken villages played behind her, Hillary Yarger said a recent trip to Haiti changed her life, and gave her direction. The Penn State DuBois student from Brisbin, PA spent her winter break on a mission trip in Haiti, and made a presentation in order to share her experience with the campus community during a recent luncheon.
“Nine of us traveled to Haiti as a mission team,” Yarger said, explaining that the trip was organized through the Elizabethtown Church of God, and the Church of God’s charity, Project Help Haiti, which was established in 1967.
“We did several service projects such as delivering water to farmers, taking school supplies to two schools, delivering hygiene kits and school supplies to a rural mountain village, and cleaning up trash with the local children around their school,” Yarger continued. She then detailed what was possibly the most significant project she and the other missionaries worked on.
“Our largest project was installing two solar panels which will now power a pump that will supply water to the entire village of Borel. This is their first access to clean water these people have had since the 2010 earthquake. They will use it to drink, cook and wash,” Yarger explained.
She related other stories about the schools where they volunteered, and an orphanage they visited where a baby boy now lived after being abandoned along a nearby road. Yarger said these experiences, and others, had a huge impact on her life.
“Seeing two little girls wait all day with their buckets for the first time we turned on the faucet for the clean water; that moment truly changed my life and confirmed to me that God wants me in the mission field for the rest of my life. The trip made me realize that access to clean water and sanitation is not only my biggest passion, it is also my life’s calling,” Yarger said.