Photo Gallery

George Mason University women's lacrosse sophomore Olivia Heaton understands the important of serving others and doing what's necessary to help those in need. This past winter break, Heaton joined a group from Third Day Community Church in her hometown of Jefferson, Md., to take part in a mission trip to Uganda. While there, Heaton provided services to village residents and gained an even broader understanding of the need to pay it forward. 
 
What's the name of your church?
Third Bank Community Church in Jefferson, Maryland.
 
How did you get involved in this particular trip?
My aunt, Robin Moore, created this experience for going over to Africa and has the connections to the two pastors [in Uganda]. My aunt, my cousin Ginger, and I went on this trip. They've gone at least 10 times, and I wanted to go this time."
 
What was the service trip like?
"The trip itself was 10 days. When we got there, the pastors took us to local village churches to hand out dresses for the girls and shorts for the boys, toothbrushes for everyone and glasses for those who needed them to read.
 
We also went to Sole Hope, which is an organization in Jinja that removes a parasite harmful to Ugandans called jiggers. There were a few different jobs you could do there like washing feet or documenting where the jiggers were in the feet, which is what I was doing. I watched what they were extracting from the feet.
 
Another program that a pastor created was for women who had either been abandoned by their husbands or lost them to gain skills to get jobs because jobs for women are far and few between in Uganda. I taught some women how to do nails and got to see some graduate from the program while I was there. They even made us dresses with zebra prints."
 
What was the biggest thing you took away from the experience?
"I wanted to give everything I had to them because they don't have a lot. The kids were so excited for gifts like stickers and swarmed me because they were afraid they may not get one. It really opened up my eyes to how privileged we are to have what we have in the U.S."
 
What do you think the people taught you the most on the trip?
"They were very caring and loving, accepting you right away and welcoming you to the community. It was an amazing feeling to be thought of as an equal immediately, regardless of the cultural differences between us."
 
Do you have an interest in doing more in the service field?
"Yes, I am a criminology major, and from a human rights perspective, I thought it was really interesting to see how much change could be made in a country like that. I would go back sometime in the future for sure or do something close to home because it's important to serve others and good to give back."
 
Did you take anything from your experience in Uganda that translates into competing on a lacrosse team?
"[Head coach] Jessy [Morgan] always talks about what you can accomplish when you're not looking for credit and always being disciplined in what you do in lacrosse. I took that to Uganda as well as the importance of always doing the right thing. Also, the day-to-day responsibilities and interactions involved with working within a team gave me experience I needed to work with others more effectively in Uganda."