At George Mason High School, our principal, Mr. Matt Hills, set a standard in the school for all students to excel in mind, body, and character. In this series, The Lasso looks for students who excel in these different yet equally valuable areas. This week, The Lasso digs deeper with junior Will Gaskins in how he excels in character during his trip with his family to Nairobi, Kenya.
In the little city of Falls Church with our great schools, excessive frozen yogurt places, and safe walking distances to everywhere and anywhere you would want to go, it can sometimes be hard to realize that not everywhere in the world has these luxuries.
Junior Will Gaskins had his world turned upside down when he and his family went on a mission trip to an orphanage in Nairobi, Kenya. Gaskins and his family ended a large family vacation at the orphanage that is run by a family friend.
“We helped on their farm, in the garden, milked the cows, and played with all the little kids that were there. They had about 20 orphans and they were all really young and really cute so it was really fun to play with them.” Gaskins said.
Although during the day there was a lot of work to be done, evenings where when Gaskins’ fondest memories were made.
“Every night my family and I would each take a little kid and go on a walk with them around the orphanage. You hold their hands and they walk right next to you, it’s the cutest thing. We would all go… so we would all be in a line walking down this path through the orphanage and it was so cool to see. The kids they don’t know much, they can’t really talk that well, so we kind of just make funny faces and laugh with them… it was cool to see that little connection between all the kids and us,” Gaskins said.
Gaskins reveals that although the main goal of the mission trip was for the family to give the best help they can for these children, he and his family benefited, too. What his family learned and experienced throughout the trip was something that they would remember and that changed them for the rest of their lives.
Despite the fact that Gaskins would love to go on another mission trip or return to Nairobi, he explains that it is not necessary to go all the way to Africa to help out. There are many places you can help out that are so close, like D.C. or even just around Falls Church. It is the effort and thought that counts.
“There are so many less fortunate people we could be helping in D.C., like in our backyard. D.C. is ten minutes away, we could go there and help out at a homeless shelter, give food to people on the streets. It doesn’t have to be in some crazy place,” Gaskins said.
