Tyler Seabaugh, Helias Class of 2009

Tyler Seabaugh is a 2009 graduate of Helias Catholic High School.  He is currently at Avila University with plans to attend dental school.  He was on the first ever Helias mission trip which was to Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico back in 2008.  He went on a total of three Helias mission trips; two to Mexico and one to Springfield.  The this blog is about his mission work in Okolona, Mississippi.

Tyler on the 2009 Mexico Mission Trip

            A little background on the town, Okolona Mississippi use to be one of the most booming towns in Mississippi.  There were around 25 furniture factories and a lot of people.  White people ran the town, and everybody knew it.  The whites would go to school until high school and then, if they could afford it move on to a community or regular four-year college. The blacks of the town were only allowed to go as far as seventh grade.  They would then begin working at the furniture factories.  People often asked why they would not continue further with their education.  The answer, why, is because uneducated individuals made for good cheap labor and educated people ran the town.  Racism was very high in this town and still has some issues with strong racism.  Things have turned around for the better, but very slowly.

            Avila University is a partner with the Sisters of Saint Joseph of Carondelet and those sisters are called CSJ’s.  A CSJ sister is in charge of a program called Excel in Okolona.  This program provides many services such as GED programs and some other learning and exercising opportunities; the program also sponsors an after-school program for the children of the local school system.  This after-school opportunity keeps a lot of these children in school who would not normally continue with their education.  The ages range from first grade to high school aged students.  So the service to this community is huge for not only breaking boundaries between people and reaching out to those people of the town and their children to educate themselves to help them do things from going on to college to getting a full-time job to support their families.

2008 Mexico Mission: Tyler is on the 1st row at the very right

            I have been on this trip three times and the trips have been different each time.  The excel program also owns a resale store to help people who can not afford expensive clothing by receiving donations and selling the items at next to nothing compared to what it could resale for.  This year’s trip involved clean up from a tornado, two years ago, which devastated a neighboring town and some of the habitants of Okolona.  We helped clean up around the local church, repair homes that had been destroyed, and cleared a lot and fixed up the yard of an abandoned house so a near homeless elderly woman could have a place to live.  The home belongs to Orlando Snow.  Mr. Snow has also been fighting cancer for a number of years.  Orlando was actually hit by the tornado twice in the same day.  The first time he was struck he was at his home in the morning and was hit by an F3 tornado.  After that tornado struck, they moved to his mother-in-law’s house for safety for the present time.  Later that day, an F5 came through the area again and he was picked up and thrown under a car.  He is a very giving individual and clearly cares about others more than himself.  Mr. Snow has also been fighting cancer for a number of years.

Starting his dental practice on the 2009 Springfield Mission Trip

            In the afternoons we would tutor the children from the local school system and help them with their homework.  The children in the after-school program are very bright children, but they require a little extra attention to keep focused and work through their problems one by one.  This one on one time helps the children keep focused and our stories of making it through school and having a dream kept a dream alive for them.  This trip is an eye opening experience for everyone who goes on it.  Some people are still overcoming racism that is still present in the town.  It’s shocking to people because they either believe that there is no more racism or they believe that it’s over in the United States.  It is good to have a reality check on things and the meaning of small actions to people mean the most to them.  I would encourage anyone to go on any mission trip that might challenge their social and economical norm to see how others live to understand that everyone lives differently and to have a social consciousness about people’s background or current situations.