Local High School Student Speaks On Inspiring Trip To Haiti
By Michelle Durham
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - Several area students from the area had the opportunity to travel to Haiti to build a foundation for a school there. They are members of the Legacy and Youth Tennis and Education group, an organization inspired by the life of Arthur Ashe.
The students were part of a contingent that travelled the earthquake ravaged nation to spend their days digging out rocks and mixing concrete.
RJ Cherry's life is a 17-year-old Central High student who finds it difficult to sum up what this trip meant to him.
"It was amazing, it was crazy, it was nice, it was unique, awe inspiring, it was life changing," said RJ.
Why life changing?
"They are out building schools and picking cotton, any kind of manual labor that you can possibly imagine. Moving bricks and moving mountains and I can't wake up to get to the subway. It strengthened my resolve. These people have so little and I have so much and I'm lazy. I have to change my own self," he explained.
RJ says he'll forever remember the star filled sky and the peace and friendliness of the Haitians he met that were generous and loving despite their lack of material possessions.
