Oh, the places we'll go!! Part 3 in a 5 part series

Kyle Mayes, senior
B. N. Duke and Trinity Summer Program
Manam Island,
Papua New Guinea

"I lived [in Papua New Guinea] when I was younger, and I kept in touch with a family in the village. Because mail takes a month to get there from the U.S., I didn't know--even as I was on my way out there--if they knew I was coming and staying with them. But luckily they found out just in time and built me a home to stay in.

On the island, which is an active volcano, I worked on a lot of projects to help promote literacy. I worked with local elementary schools, I ate dinner with members of the Board of Education and their families, and I taught 5th and 6th grade.

I also worked with one guy who lived in the next village and started a literacy program in the form of a pre-school that taught the native language to children before the kids learned English in the government-run elementary schools."

Katy Yung, senior
Hong Kong Monetary Authority
Hong Kong

"Even though I was born and raised in Hong Kong, it was a completely new experience this summer: I was now on the business side of things. I worked in the business district, and everything is packed so close together. Just stepping out for lunch, you would bump into all these famous and important businessmen that you read about in the papers. I saw Lee Ka-shing one day, a business guru who is one of the top 10 wealthiest men in Asia.

SARS really wasn't in the headlines, and people really didn't talk about it that much. I think because there was such a gloomy atmosphere when it first hit, people were really trying to move on. To liven up the city, the government arranged for the Real Madrid soccer team to come and play against Hong Kong's team. College students and other citizens were so excited that they waited for 3-4 nights just to get tickets, and so it reminded me of the Cameron Crazies."

Nikki Chao, junior
Pioneers, missionary organization
Indonesia

"We met with a lot of Muslims to learn about their beliefs and to share our Christian ones. We wanted to reach out to them and try to create a bridge over the gap that is often between the two religions. There was one Muslim girl who I was close to, who had a really interesting life. She had ovarian cancer, and I went with her to the hospital. Because her parents didn't want anyone knowing, she wasn't allowed to tell anyone that she had it. Even her brother and her fiance couldn't know. Her parents wouldn't pay the medical bills, though, and so she couldn't afford to take the medicine prescribed to her.

Another Muslim girl was a college student and was dating the son of the richest man in the city. He told her that she would be his first wife, but that he would get a second one after he married her. She hated the thought of that, and so we talked about that together."