Students' trip to aid orphans 'magical'

Hillary Balle, a junior at West Jordan High School, may have found a new goal.

She'd like to "go into physical therapy," she said Sunday night. Standing in a terminal at Salt Lake International Airport surrounded by friends and family, and just back from a humanitarian trip to orphanages in India, she added that with a career in that field, she could "help the kids regain strength."

Balle, 17, was among 10 girls and nine boys, juniors and seniors from Salt Lake-area high schools — plus seven adults — who came back from a 17-day trip to the subcontinent in a project arranged by the company "Youth Making A Difference." They worked at four orphanages in the Himalayas, helping with physical exams of the orphans, providing hygiene kits, medical supplies and shoes, building sports sites, and painting walls and murals.

Along the way they had a chance to see some of the scenery, including the Taj Mahal, said organizer Eden Cowart, a University of Utah student whose family owns the company. The students were healthy throughout the visit, she added, although one adult was ill for a while, possibly because of food poisoning.

Dozens of well-wishers stood in the terminal to greet the humanitarians. Morgan Aldous, East Millcreek, a senior at Olympus High School, said he wished he could have gone too.

"I'm actually proud of them," he said. "They're some really good friends of mine. I'm really proud that they could go and help the orphans in India."

Besides West Jordan and Olympus, schools whose students participated were East and Highland high schools. The group had raised about $390,000 in cash and in-kind donations to assist approximately 200 orphans, according to an earlier report. Of this, the teens collected $140,000.

"There they are!" shouted one of the waiting youngsters. While the returnees were riding down the terminal's escalator toward the baggage carousels, family and friends began screaming and clapping. Preteens held a paper banner and a hand-lettered sign welcoming them home.

Some of the humanitarians wore Indian-style clothing and some had temporary henna designs on their arms.

"It was awesome," said Ben Hale, a Holladay youth who attends Olympus High. "It's the experience of my life."

"Hi Daddy!" cried Balle as she approached her family. She carried a backpack and wore a beige Indian-style dress and a small blue dot on her forehead, a symbol she said was considered a blessing.

"Oh, magical," she said of the experience. "Nothing you could ever describe.

"I have to say the best part for me is when we were saying good-bye and the kids — and they picked me up and tried to take me to their village." The Indian children kept saying, "Never leave us, never leave us."

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