MACOMB, Ill. – Each December, the vast majority of college students head home for several weeks to celebrate the holiday season with their families. The break is usually filled with food, fun and the joy of seeing loved ones after an extended period of time away from home.

This past holiday season, several current and former members of the Western Illinois women's soccer team headed to Mexico from Jan. 8-14 to volunteer their time and energy in a country far away from home.

During the trip, the team volunteered at Niños de Baja, an orphanage in Ejido El Porvenir which has been run by Camarillo Christian Church in Camarillo, Calif. since 1967. The orphanage provides education and homes for homeless, abused and impoverished children in the local area.

A total of 11 young women traveled in the group, headed by former Leatherneck defender Mandy Wright. A recent graduate of Western, Wright proposed the idea to her teammates during the 2009 season and several other young women made the decision to spend part of their winter break in Mexico.

“I had never done anything like this before,” junior Caitlin Barrett said. “It was something that Mandy had talked to us about several times because she had been on a few trips there before, but I'd never done something quite like this.”

In addition to Wright, Barrett was joined by current teammates Abby Davis, Jill Kevorkian, Lauren DeWolf and Kendra Wilkening along with former Leatherneck players Keeley Murray, Meghan Tyk, Tess McDonnell and Jenna Schonert. In addition to the 10 current and former players, Jamie Monier, a friend of several of the team members, also joined the group.

“I was a little hesitant at first because I was going somwhere I'd never been before,” Davis said. “But having everyone else along made things a lot easier.”

Although many of the group's fears were calmed by having familiar faces on the trip, many of the groups members felt that the language barrier would pose the biggest problem.

“The language barrier was probably the most difficult part of the culture shock,” Murray said. “It really helped to have Mandy along though because she speaks the language and acted as our translator.”

Despite the language barrier, the group found other ways to communicate with the children and staff at the orphanage.

“The most basic way you can communicate is through body language,” Murray said. “Simple gestures played a really big part in us being able to communicate during the times when Mandy wasn't right there with us.”

“I didn't feel too much of a need to help the other girls with culture shock,” Wright said. “The girls took everything in stride and they handled themselves really well in an unfamiliar place.”

A typical day for the group included breakfast before an early morning run. The group then spent the morning working on a service project for a local family before grabbing lunch and spending the rest of the day at the orphanage, though not every day was the same.

“In reality there is no such thing as a typical day down there,” Wright said. “You really just have to learn to be flexible and handle whatever comes your way.”

In the mornings, the group worked on pouring a concrete floor in the home of a family with a special needs child.

“The home we went to had simple dirt floors,” Wright said. “It made it difficult for the child to move around the house. Our job was to help make their lives just a little bit easier.”

Despite doing tough manual labor in a hot, humid environment, the group enjoyed its time on its service project.      

“The work we did was pretty hard, but nobody complained because being down there was so humbling,” Murray said. “Every time someone felt like complaining all we had to do was look around and see how little the people there had compared to us and it made us realize that we have it pretty good (back home).”

After the morning ended, the team headed back to Niños de Baja to spend the rest of the afternoon playing with the children.

“The looks on the faces of the kids down there was awesome,” Davis said. “It was a great feeling to see the smile on their faces and to see how much they enjoyed having someone there who cared for them.”

While the group was happy to help others out, it also provided a great learning experience for each member of the group.

“It made me realize that we take a lot for granted here at home,” Davis said. “The people down there were just happy to have basic items. Being in Mexico made me realize I have a lot to be thankful for.”

“I learned to count my blessings,” Murray said “that was the big lesson I learned.”

“I learned that you can always learn something from someone else,” Barrett said. “It doesn't matter what level of education you have or how much money you've got.”

“I have a terrific family, great friends, and the opportunity to make my dreams a reality,” Wright said. “Here that's not always the case for people. I'm humbled by the fact that people who have so 'little' understand what the most important things in life really are.”

Each member of the group has expressed a desire to return to Mexico or travel to another country to make a difference in other places.

“I would love to go back,” Barrett said. “Whether it be Mexico or anywhere else, I just want to make a difference in people's lives.”

The memories of Mexico are ones that will stick with the group forever.

“I think for me it was walking down the street and seeing all of my good friends down in Mexico with me,” Wright said. “A place that I love and talk about all the time, I got to share it with them, it was awesome.”

“The moments with the children really stuck out in my mind,” Barrett said. “But for me the biggest moment was seeing Giga brought to tears because she was so thankful that we did something as simple as pour a cement floor for her family.

“The real test is to come home and keep in perspective just how lucky we are. Sometimes you can go on these trips and come back home and just forget about what you learned. I know for me I just want to make sure I stay thankful for everything I have here.”

For more information or to see more of the work going on at Niños de Baja, check out www.ninosdebaja.org.