Special to the Herald
(From the issue of 10/9/03)

Leaving the comforts of home for life without electricity or running water, nine members of the Paul VI Catholic High School community volunteered for one week in June to help build a chapel at the diocesan mission in Bánica, Dominican Republic.

After a long plane ride, and traveling by bus over rough terrain for over five hours, the group was greeted by Fathers Pat Posey, Dan Gee and Chris Murphy, three priests from the Arlington Diocese who work there.

Paul VI senior Liz McCarthy said she had dreaded going in a way. "I was afraid of leaving my cell phone and computer for a week. But it turned out to be a good experience that I wouldn’t trade for anything. The people we were helping didn’t get as much out of it as we did."

The main goal of the Paul VI group was to start building a chapel that would seat about 40 people. The chapel would not just be a place to worship, but also a community meeting place for the small village of a few hundred, according to Father Posey who was completing his eighth year at the mission.

"I didn’t know what to expect," senior Katie Sherman said. "The people just don’t have anything, but it really surprised me how happy they were. They weren’t worried about who has what or competing with their neighbors. They were content."

Besides digging holes for posts and mixing and pouring cement for three of the four chapel walls, the volunteers participated in daily events at several villages. They were able to attend a Mass, celebrated by Father O’Hara, where some young people were receiving first Communion.

The Paul VI volunteers also attended liturgies held to thank Father Posey, who had been with the mission longer than any diocesan priest so far. "The Masses were very moving," said Jane Elfring, religion teacher. "They were standing room only and people were standing outside too because everyone wanted to say goodbye. One celebration went on all afternoon. They even performed a play about his life. It was easy to see the force of his charismatic personality."

In other interaction with the villagers, the Paul VI seniors played hopscotch and tic-tac-toe with the villagers and the villagers taught them new paper and pencil games. One afternoon the group delivered food bags to an extremely poor village even less accessible than Bánica.

Despite the hardships she endured, senior Stella Patris said that she would like to go back again next summer. "The places we went were even more poor than I expected, but the people were great."

Others from the Paul VI community in the volunteer group were Pam McCarthy, Spanish teacher and her husband Tim; Liz Ratliff, guidance counselor; Niki Crahan, Spanish teacher and Elfring’s daughter Erica.