Emma Miller in Romania

By Haley Smith

Two years ago, incoming sophomore Emma Miller went on a service trip to Philadelphia through Hope Worldwide, where she worked with inner city children, mentoring and building relationships with them. This same program offers dozens of service trips per year, and she saw that Romania was one of the destinations for this past summer. Emma’s uncle was adopted from an orphanage in Romania, so she was very interested in seeing what it was like, given the stories she had heard from his difficult childhood. “It was a place very important to my family, and the thought of being able to go and serve there myself felt surreal.” 

There were around thirty people involved with the trip, mostly teenagers from all over the country and even outside of the USA. Hope Worldwide is a nonprofit organization that provides service trips for a wide range of ages, along with a multitude of other service opportunities. They provide programs such as the “Hope Youth Corps,” which include service trips in various locations for high schoolers and the occasional college student. “Hope Volunteer Corps” are service trips for people of any ages, and was the program Emma’s Romania trip was through. “It was such an incredible experience to be surrounded by peers who were all invested in making a difference. We all stayed in a hostel and had the most fun time together.”

The purpose of the trip was to serve in an orphanage located just outside of Bucharest, Romania. “The area the orphanage was located in a rough area, filled with homelessness, garbage, and graffiti. There were dozens of children within the orphanage, ranging from age 5 to age 17. We would essentially just befriend the children, play with them, and show them love which they scarcely receive.” Emma would also partake in some physical labor, such as painting the orphanage walls, sanding benches, or building structures. The Do Good Club here at Melrose High School all took part in raising hundreds of dollars for donations to bring over to the orphanage, to supply the kids with toys, art supplies, and sports equipment

In regards to another trip, Emma would certainly love to go! “The trip was probably the best life experience I’ve had so far. I think growing up in a town such as Melrose has put me in a bubble, in a way. Most of us who have grown up in this environment haven’t ever really been exposed to the harsh realities of a large portion of the world. Most of us exist within the top 1% of wealth in the world. We hear about the issues that go on in this world, we hear of the growing poverty, and we hear about the violence that goes on. I think the challenge is that even though we hear of all of this, we rarely see it, so it does not feel real. We don’t know what it feels like.” This trip was a valuable experience for Emma, and showed her what a huge part of the world goes through. “It caused me to feel a deeper sense of gratitude for what I have, and motivation to give back. It was inspiring to see so many other teenagers who were also striving to make an impact, and serve, and so refreshing. It was such a perspective giving and faith building experience, to be able to work with so many other people for something that involves something so much bigger than myself.”

For people who want to partake in a service trip, Emma does not hesitate to tell anyone to go! “I don’t think anyone who goes on a trip like this will regret it. It is a unique feeling you get to be able to see other parts of the world, and so perspective giving. There is nothing quite like getting to serve in a whole other part of the world, and making an impact, even a small one, is something that really impacts you in a huge way.” In addition to the service aspect, Emma couldn’t express how much fun she had! When she wasn’t working in the orphanage, she got to see many cool attractions in Bucharest, and even went to Transylvania to see Dracula’s castle. Emma’s last words in regards to the trip: “It could not have been a better time.”