Notre Dame student works with orphaned and challenged children near Lima, Peru.
During the week of June 11, Notre Dame’s Daniel Fox worked with orphaned and challenged children near Lima, Peru. More photos of his trip are below.
For the past several years, students from Marist School in Atlanta have spent about a week each summer in Peru on a mission trip. Their home base during the trips typically is a Marist-operated school in Callao, Peru, which is located near Lima, Peru’s capital.
This year, Daniel Fox, who will be a senior at Notre Dame Prep when school begins again in late August, joined the 12 students from Marist School who made the trip. According to ND Prep principal Fr. Joe Hindelang, s.m., Fox took the initiative on his own and made all of his own arrangements.
“Peru was amazing,” said Fox, who said he made a lot of friends on the trip, from students of Atlanta’s Marist School to the many children in Peru he met.
“It was an incredible experience and what I really enjoyed the most were the orphanages,” Fox said. “There were so many amazing kids who were happy in spite of their very terrible situations, which was very humbling. The language barrier was present, but I found out a smile goes a long way down there!”
Fox said getting to know the kids at the orphanages and schools was special.
“The love I received from them was overwhelming. We visited many regular orphanages, but the children who were mentally or physically disabled or cancer-inflicted really got to me the most.”
He said one little girl in particular really hit it off with him. “Her name is Rose,” he said, “and she has cancer. But she was the most beautiful and loving child I have ever met.”
Also on the group’s itinerary were a number of visits to elderly homes in the area, but Fox unfortunately got pretty sick with a virus for a couple days and could not attend any of them.
“But we also visited after-school programs for kids who come from homes with violence and drugs,” he said. “And they were just as happy as the kids in the orphanages.”
Fox said the mission opened his eyes, for sure. “It really made me see how blessed I am and helped me to gain a greater appreciation for all that I have,” he said.
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About Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy
Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy is a private, Catholic, independent, coeducational day school located in Oakland County. The school's upper division enrolls students in grades nine through twelve and has been named one of the nation's best 50 Catholic high schools (Acton Institute) four times since 2005. Notre Dame's middle and lower divisions enroll students in jr. kindergarten through grade eight. All three divisions are International Baccalaureate "World Schools." NDPMA is conducted by the Marist Fathers and Brothers and is accredited by the Independent Schools Association of the Central States and the North Central Association Commission on Accreditation and School Improvement. For more on Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy, visit the school's home page at www.ndpma.org.