Loyola men’s soccer players Aidan Crawford and TJ Cairney recently returned from an immersive service trip to Guatemala, where they spent a week working with Gracia, a nonprofit that supports young women, and Casa Hogar, an orphanage located in Jalapa. The trip gave the student-athletes a chance to engage with local youth both on and off the soccer field.

“We had two soccer practices a day,” said Crawford. “We would have one for the older group of the chicas in the morning, and one for the younger group later on. The rest of the time was spent in the workshop.”

The players also worked in the Gracia jewelry workshop, where they were mentored by women in the program. Each day, one of the women would partner with them to teach jewelry-making or arts and crafts. “These young women are so incredibly creative and technically competent, especially compared to TJ and me,” Crawford said with a smile. “Their standards were much higher than ours—they’d make us restart pieces if they weren’t perfect.”

One particularly memorable moment came when Crawford was working on a bracelet. “I was halfway through this bracelet that took hours to make. One of the women looked at it, undid a few of the knots, and basically told me to start over,” he recalled. “But I got the hang of it. We made some really cool souvenirs and gifts for our friends and family.”

Cairney reflected on how the informal moments of the trip were often the most meaningful. “Our job wasn’t to go down there and coddle them. It was to go down there and learn about their lives, and they could learn about ours,” he said. “I treated them like any other kid I’d had at camp. We were joking with them, pushing each other around. Sometimes we were playing at 100% just because we were having so much fun.”

Casa Hogar, the orphanage where some of the Gracia women grew up, is located in the town of Jalapa. It provides care and support for children in need, and is closely tied to the Gracia program, which continues to help these young women transition into adulthood.

Reflecting on the week, Crawford shared a quote from his mom that stuck with him: “Don’t go down there to change them—let them change you.” He added, “That ended up being so true. It really wasn’t like any other service trip I’ve been a part of. They taught us so much.”

Both athletes expressed their hope that the partnership with Gracia and Casa Hogar continues in the future. “Not only because of the ability for Loyola athletes to help Gracia and the orphanage,” Crawford said, “but also for the amount of impact and development it can have on Loyola athletes themselves.”