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Fitch grads travel to Togo for mission trip
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Hillary Caton and Austintown Fitch alum Greg Mook are pictured with smiling orphans in front of supplies during their trip. Caton is a volunteer from a church in Florida who made the trip.
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Austintown Fitch graduate Jon Michael Valantine spent time with his new friends while in Gbentchal.
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Children collect water from a polluted lake, or watering hole, prior to the installation of the well. Many contracted illnesses from bacteria and parasites present in the water.
By EMILY GIANETTI
After a long plane trip and hours in a van, Fitch grads Greg Mook (24) and Jon Michael Valantine (18), along with Canfield graduate Jillian Smith (18), found themselves far from home.
But once they arrived in the small community of Gbentchal in western Africa, it didn’t take long for them to realize that the village’s orphans would become their adopted family.
The three young adults spent the first two weeks of July working as part of the nonprofit organization Mentor Leaders in the small African nation of Togo, a country bordering the Pacific on Africa’s western shoreline.
The lifestyle, especially in small villages like Gbentchal, is largely agrarian. Many forgo education to work on family farms.
“Even the teachers themselves aren’t really educated. Parents know that and they decide to keep their kids at home,” said Valantine.
“They have more of a future as a farmer,” Smith added.
Clean water and food are hard to come by and medicine is next to impossible to acquire. The goal of the trip was to bring these rare items to a region in desperate need of them.
“A lot of the children have malaria and parasites,” said Mook, “It’s from the watering hole and no mosquito nets.”
To help solve that problem, the organization raised $8,000 to build a well, an amount Mentor Leaders supplemented with grants from the United Nations.
Drilling commenced, water was drawn and tested clean, and now villagers have a “fully functioning well,” that can be used by sponsor children and their families, according to Mook.
The church also conducted a Bible school for the kids, in which Smith, Mook and Valantine took part. Citizens of Gbentchal hold indigenous beliefs, so it was the first time that many villagers were taught about Christianity.
“I think every day we spent with the kids was amazing,” said Smith.
Even when they weren’t in Bible school, children would often talk to Mook, Valantine and Smith, following them, hoping to play games or even just “hang out.”
“By the end of the trip, the language barrier didn’t even matter anymore,” Smith said. “You’d use hand signs and they would get it.”
Too soon, the 12 days were up and it was time to leave all they had grown to love in such a short period of time.
“It just made me want to go back,” said Valantine, “You don’t know what nothing is until you see people who have nothing.”
Next year’s trip with Mentor Leaders is already being planned by Tabernacle Evangelical Presbyterian Church pastor Dan Osborn.
Smith, Valantine and Mook will be speaking about their experiences at the 11 a.m. service and conducting a question-and-answer session at 6 p.m. on Sept. 11 at the church on 2432 South Raccoon Road in Youngstown.