While many students spend time in the summer with friends and resting from the academic stresses of school, Annsley Martin ’20 was busy building concrete foundations and walls for homes in Nogales, Mexico.

Martin went to the city for one week in late July as part of a mission trip offered by the Fellowship of Christians in Universities and Schools (FOCUS). This past summer was the first time FOCUS offered a mission trip to Nogales, which was made due to a partnership with Cuirim Outreach, an Irish monastic ministry doing work in countries including Mexico and Ireland.

“I didn’t really know what to expect, but we were living in the middle of the slums,” admitted Martin, of her first mission trip. “… Where we lived, it was just like any of the other houses. We didn’t have any air conditioning or any running water, really.”

She continued, “It was a lot different than living in America, but it was interesting to experience exactly how (locals) were living.”

During the morning hours, Martin and roughly 30 other missionaries dedicated their time assisting the local community. Part of their work included constructing concrete floors and walls for houses, painting the interior of a home, and running a Vacation Bible School for area children.

In the afternoons, the missionaries played games with local youth at a park consisting of a concrete pad, basketball hoops, and soccer nets.

Martin said the experience put her life in Connecticut into perspective, knowing Nogales was only a short flight away. She urges anyone interested in giving back to less fortunate communities to do so.

“There’s work to be done everywhere,” she said. “I think that, if you are able to work and help other people out, why not do it?”

Martin also spent a week of her summer in Martha’s Vineyard, volunteering in the kitchen as part of FOCUS’s Vineyard Service. She learned of the opportunity while in Nogales.

At CA, Martin currently serves as president of the National Honor Society, peer counselor, captain of the ski team, and participates in other extracurricular activities.