While some students plan to go out of the country during their summer vacation for a relaxing trip, others like Caroline Sartorius and Lainey Bee plan to help out struggling communities.

Lainey Bee a rising senior at South Lakes High School took a trip when she was 14 to Tanzania to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro. For every mile Bee completed on the hike, contributors donated a certain amount of money.

In total Bee raised $1,500 towards supplies to be provided for kids in an orphanage in the capital of Tanzania. Bee plans to visit Tanzania and the orphanage again this summer to see her work in progress. Bee will spend a week in the orphanage to help with the cleaning and cooking and act as a mentor to the children.

“This experience was very fulfilling for me,” Bee said. “After college I plan to visit Africa and build a school for girls in Tanzania who are less privileged than others.”

Bee plans to work with work with her older sister this summer who accompanied her on her climb up Mt. Tanzania.

“My sister has always been a role model for me,” Bee said. “It’s admirable how she dedicates her life to improving the world and helping out others in need.”

Caroline Sartorius a rising senior at South Lakes has visited the Dominican Republic twice already and plans to go again this up incoming summer.

During her trip Sartorius interviews villagers from a Haitian decent about how they can get better access to documentation and how the documentation project can be improved.

“Without documentation these people are denied basic human rights,” Sartorius said. “Children are not allowed to get an education, people are not allowed police or medical service, marriage and owning a car are against the law.”

The main concern for Sartorius regarding the villagers is the possibility of deportation back to Haiti.

“If the village people get stopped by the police without documentation they can be sent back to Haiti,” Sartorius said. “These people have become a community and don’t want to be sent away from their family and life.”

Sartorius plans to go back to the Dominican Republic for two weeks to check on her progress and make sure that the villagers are getting their documentation.

“It makes me feel good about myself, because I’m helping out people in need,” Sartorius said. “Other groups come in and build schools, but without documentation these kids cannot attend school.”

Helping out people in need is a career option that Sartorius is interested in after college.

“After I attend college I plan to join the Peace Corps,” Sartorius said. “Helping out others means a lot to me and is one of the most satisfying things in the world.