MoeTerm in Guatemala
For the inaugural MoeTerm, a group of Moeller students and faculty were taken to Guatemala on a service trip. The students were in Guatemala for a week, and after being divided into two teams, spent five days building a house ground-up. At the end of the week, two new houses stood for the respective families that the organization chose to help. The organization, ImagininGuatemala, is a small nonprofit based in Antigua. It is run by Guatemalans, based on the idea of improving the infrastructure of Guatemalan living conditions. The organization relies upon building local and international friends, volunteers, and benefactors who want to help the less fortunate. The three biggest volunteer groups are from Cincinnati, Cedar Rapids, and Chicago. The group is committed to uniting volunteers to assist with the physical, spiritual, emotional and educational development of marginalized people in Guatemala.
The group arrived in Guatemala City and took a bus to Antigua. The first weekend was spent walking around the city, visiting the markets, and meeting the host families. A typical workday would begin at 7, when the students would pack their lunch and head to the worksite. The building would end around 5:30 every day, then the group would head home for the night. On the final day, each team would have a lunch served by the family they built the house for, a traditional Guatemalan meal called Pepian.
Though the Guatemala service trip is not only a MoeTerm experience. Students have been familiar with it previously, serving there for one of Moeller’s Summer mission trips. The main difference between the two trips is the weather—January is peak “dry” season, eclipsing temperatures between 55 and 80 degrees. The Summer trip visits during the rainy and hot season, getting consistently above 85 degrees.
To get a sense of the Guatemala experience, Tiago Improvola, who went on the service trip in 2025, answered some questions. When asked why he chose to serve in Guatemala, he replied “I wanted to do acts of service, but never got chance to do it until Bennett presented on it in class and I was hooked”. Tiago highly recommended the trip to others, citing important memories and surprise at how the trip doesn’t fill up quickly.
While being in a foreign country, one is also apt to encounter struggles. The biggest difficulty he had was adapting to environment. He quotes “Even though I spoke Spanish it was hard adapting to differences. It was tough working in heat, and seeing people encounter language barriers. Best part is that people in Guatemala don’t judge.” When asked what the biggest tip he learned was, he responded that one should soak it all in, and don’t have fear to try something different. To top it all off, Tiago was questioned on his favorite food he had in Guatemala. After taking a few seconds to think, he responded affirmatively “Crepes. Huge crepes with Nutella and banana inside.”
The act of serving not only left an impact on the lives served, but the lives of those who did the service as well. Guatemala was an incredible international experience, fostering global community and friendship for all. One can be expected to learn more information about the Guatemala service trip in the future, whether it be a summer service mission or a MoeTerm.