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Comings and goings: two youth groups head to cairo for service and love

Story and photos by LIZ QUIRIN
Messenger editor

No, it's not a tennis game, but it does require high energy, and the rewards can't be toted up in a score.

During the hot days of summer when many young people think about going to the pool to cool off, taking in a movie, working a summer job or making a host of other choices to take up their time, some diocesan youth were thinking of a different way to use their energy.

Hitting the road in a caravan, young people and adult volunteers from Immaculate Conception Parish in Columbia spent a long weekend painting and fixing and fence building in Cairo.

Daystar Community Program set up a few projects for them, and they took care of the rest.
Leading the group, Laura Edgar Whelan is no novice at the Cairo caravan, and this year brought the biggest group yet — 38 youth and 13 adults — to volunteer.
After discussing outreach with pastor, Msgr. Carl Scherrer, four years ago, groups began going to Cairo.

The volunteers not only learn a few skills but also realize how close people in need can be to them, Whelan said.
“These kids have everything,” Whelan said. “It’s important for them to see kids who don’t have anything.”

When IC Columbia parishioners were leaving on that Sunday afternoon, they met a group from SS. Peter and Paul in Waterloo who would be spending the week volunteering to help those in need on other projects.
The trips provide food for thought, and life-changing experiences for some of them.