On Nov. 22, the first day of Thanksgiving break, members of the SIS Habitat for Humanity club assembled at school. Despite the coldness of the dark early morning, every member showed up on time, and the trip was able to mark a strong start. The members worked with official workers from Habitat for Humanity Korea to clean up a house that was already moderately built. It was the first of many more domestic trips to come in the future of SIS HFH.

“SIS HFH is a club that heavily revolves around going on a trip to carry out community service,” said Michael Jo (11), the trip-coordinator for SIS HFH. “This principle is not just applicable to us, but also the numerous other HFH organizations around the world. However, for the past two years, our school was unable to send our members on a trip due to issues with logistics as well as weather interference. I’m very glad that this November domestic trip finally did work out, and our members were able to gain a memorable experience in helping out the community.”

This domestic trip to Anseong was more valuable than ever to the SIS HFH team because it proved their continuous presence at the school. Students from all four grade levels had come together on this mission to provide adequate housing to underprivileged people nearby us. Despite the fact that this was the first trip for most members, they showed more enthusiasm than ever for this cause.

“It was a pleasure to see our high school students bringing forth tangible solutions for our community in forms of houses,” said Gray Macklin, high school vice principal as well as the advisor who attended the domestic trip. “Students were shoveling sand, and ceaselessly asking for more work. I hope that through more experience like this, our students will be able to translate such a work ethic even in classroom environments.”

As the year comes to an end, members of the SIS HFH club hope to reflect on this domestic trip and thoroughly prepare for the upcoming international trip to Thailand this coming spring.