Most of us try our best to help those in need. A dedicated, and passionate senior, Taylor Parrott helps in an orphanage 1,806 miles away in Haiti. Since summer 2015 Parrott has been on four mission trips.

    “A mission trip is where you’re going, and volunteering in an international aspect,” Parrott said.

    ‘Open Door Haiti’ is the organization she travels with. With options from Brazil, Sierra Leone, Haiti, Czech Republic and Greece.   

    “The next trip I plan to go on is to Czech or Brazil this summer,” Parrot said.

    Each trip takes lots of time and determination. Parrott’s hard work doesn’t go unnoticed by friends and family.

    “She never does anything half-hearted. Everything she does is because of her passion for whatever that may be and her love for the people involved with it. From traveling across the world to help people, to spending countless hours nannying, she’s passionate about it all,” Parrott’s best friend, Sam Albright said.

       Having a passionate mindset drives Parrott to continue on mission trips, following her passions.    

“Taylor’s passion and dedication for everything she does is inspiring to me. Her faith is so radiating and all of the positive things she does because of it really make a big impact on anyone who is around her. She takes so much out of her personal time to be helping people who rely on people like her, I don’t know how that couldn’t be inspiring,” Albright said.

    On Parrotts trips she takes part in bettering a community.

     “Mainly we’ve been working with building kind of like small construction things, then orphanage work,” Parrot said.

     Along with construction, Parrott and her team work to expand the community’s communication and understanding.

    “One big thing we do is English camps. The best thing is being able to actually go through what they learned that day and touch on the English that they talked about. The first thing we were doing is family background, so being able to talk with them about each of our different family situations,” Parrott explained.

    The Haiti community speaks Karel, so a translator is always needed to verbally interact with the people, especially with the children.

    What many don’t realize is the differences between America and countries like Haiti.

    “It’s really eye opening. Each time we go we notice new things. Every trip I learn something different, and get something out of it that’s completely different from the other ones. Where we go is not as impoverished as other parts of Haiti. It’s insane to see,” Parrott said.

           Between America and Haiti, one difference is the way they prepare meals. Families don’t have kitchens we’re used to, or local grocery stores stocked with food.

     “They don’t have refrigerators, ovens or anything. Everything is made/picked/slaughtered right before the meal & cooked over a fire. The women that made food at our compound would wake up at 5am for us to eat at 8:30. As soon as breakfast was cleaned up they would start preparing for lunch & dinner,” Parrot said.

    Living in these conditions gave Parrott a different outlook on life. “…it’s insane to see”.

    “I think the trips made her appreciate the things she had more,” Parrott’s sister Reagan Parrott said.

    During her journey she’s met amazing friends, and even reconnected with children in the orphanage.

    “I have two girls I’ve connected with really well. Each trip I’ve gone on they’ve still been in the orphanage, so each time I’ve reconnected with them. That’s one of the coolest things,” Parrot said.

    These memorable moments make her experience even better, but harder to come back each time. It’s times like these that make Parrott want to continue with a career in ministry.

     “It’s hard to come back, I’ve left my heart there so many times it feels more like home than anything,” Parrot said.