The aspiring videographer grins as he quickly replays the smiles and laughter of children living in poverty half a world away.

“They’re so infectious,” Ben Johnson said as he watched the vivid images of fun-loving kids in motion on his laptop computer screen, fond footage he captured from his recent goodwill trip to a Senegal village in West Africa. “That is what I always will remember.”

Classmate Matt Knott will remember chasing tireless, soccer-dribbling kids up and down a sand pitch in the heart of the village.

Ryley Dozier will remember inflating numerous balloons for curious children and their intrigued mothers.

Sabrina Coady won’t soon forget helping a woman gut and prepare a goat – its meat considered a delicacy in the country – as the main course for a community-wide dinner.

Abbie Holmberg and Mackenzie Virnig will recall how the village’s resilient women filled buckets of potable water from a community well, carefully placed the 50-pound pails atop their heads and made the long daily walk back to their huts.

“They are blessed in a completely different ways than us,” Alyssa Ingham observed of the Senegalese. “They are happy. … I don’t need to pity them because they have so many different things that we don’t have.”

Watching others live simply, living resourcefully in a peaceful, mostly Islamic state left a lasting impression on the contingent from Auburn.

The “out-of-Africa” experience was a rich, cultural, enlightening and somewhat surreal experience for eight high school students and their two adult leaders. The 12-day trip in February, taken in collaboration with relief-agency World Vision, was a mission for students looking to make a difference.

The Auburn students belong to Young Life, a non-denominational, parachurch ministry, but the nonprofit organization didn’t sponsor the trip. Each student paid his or her way.

The group shared chores, games, gifts and dreams with villagers from Farar, a town located a few hours outside the capital port city of Dakar.

“For me, one of the greatest objectives was for these kids to really learn what they did … that life is best when it’s lived simply,” said Kim Olsen, one of the team leaders. “I think they caught the vision that they can have an impact on the world abroad … but also they can make a difference here in Auburn.”

While the trip was cultural, it was partly business. The Auburn group is committed to raising $24,000 locally to purchase a new pump and piping system vital to serving the freshwater needs of the Farar community.

According to Olsen, the village of 875 has two spigots for water. Fundraising would support a World Vision-backed project that replaces the worn pump and provides the piping needed for two additional spigots.

Johnson and his classmates are producing a video from the trip to present to schools, churches, businesses and those service organizations willing to donate to the cause.

The campaign is challenging, but the students are determined to give something back. They have at least a year to reach the goal. They would like to return to Senegal some day to see the project through.

For the group, the trip offered a different perspective on and deeper appreciation of how others live and survive. They discovered that pure joy comes from simple things, reflected by the genuine people of Senegal.

“It has changed me in a lot ways. I have a whole new world view,” said Coady, a team leader. “I’ve always had a passion, a heart for the poor.

“I know we really can make a difference. … and it’s exciting to see (the students) experience that for themselves.”

For the Olsens, it was a homecoming. They lived in West Africa for 16 years. Two of Torrey and Kim Olsen’s three children, Christine and Mo, were born in Mali, a neighboring country east of Senegal.

Christine, a freshman at Auburn High, joined Erik on the trip to Senegal. Erik, born in Colorado, moved with the family to West Africa when he was a baby.

“It was actually everything I thought it would be,” Erik Olsen said of the recent trip. “Going back there, it was still my home, but at the same time, I saw the big differences between there and America, much more than I did before.”

Exchanging culture, sharing work and play are moments the group will savor. They made new friends.

“Even though they didn’t understand you (in language), just smiling to them meant so much,” Holmberg recalled. “Just knowing we were there meant something to them.”

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To learn more or to donate to the project, contact Kim Olsen at 253-508-2104.