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Liesel Odden sent a text message to the Syracuse women’s soccer team group chat near the end of the 2022-23 academic year. She asked if anyone was interested in joining her and her family on a weeklong mission trip to Guatemala in July.

Many of Odden’s teammates couldn’t because of summer plans. But, Aysia Cobb had serious interest. Cobb’s mother is from Guatemala and she had never visited before.

For one week in July, Cobb and the Odden family traveled to Aguacate, Guatemala to participate in Hogar’s Helping Hands — an organization that provides shelter to 80 orphan children and support for impoverished families in the greater Aguacate community.

Hogar’s Helping Hands is also a religious organization. During their trips to Guatemala the organization hosts a Bible school, according to its website.

In 2010, the Oddens heard about Hogar’s Helping Hands through an event at their church. After considering the trip for a few years, Odden convinced them to go in 2013.

“Liesel was very much the driving force of us going,” Odden’s mother, Carrie, said.

According to Carrie, Hogar’s Helping Hands houses children between the ages 2 to 10. She said many of the kids involved had been removed from their homes by the court systems of Guatemala due to abuse or losing their parents.

Carrie said the main directors of the home, Karen and Estuardo Rodas, aim to provide safety and education for the kids. She said the Guatemalan government doesn’t help fund the organization so Hogar’s Helping Hands relies on donations.

During their first three trips, the Oddens were participants. Then, in 2016, they became mission directors.

“We were told from the get-go that we will never fix the poverty in Guatemala and we know that,” Carrie said. “If we can help in any small way that’s what we are trying to do.”

When she was younger, Odden couldn’t contribute to every aspect of the trips. The physical demands were extremely labor intensive as the group was working on building a girls dormitory within Aguacate. Odden would help carry blocks, sift sand and paint while the construction went on.

Her largest role was building relationships with the kids in the village.

“She is drawn to them and they are drawn to her,” Carrie said. “She gives them lots of love when she’s there and lots of tears when she leaves.”

Odden’s Spanish-speaking ability has made her effective in communicating with the children. Odden has studied the language since she was young and can easily speak it, according to her father, Scott.

Speaking Spanish allowed Odden to help run the Bible school in Aguacate. Carrie said that the orphans, and around 150 local kids from the village, gather for a bible lesson every afternoon of the week while crafting, playing games and eating snacks.

As she grew older, Odden contributed more in the physical aspects while still bonding with the children. In this summer’s trip, she helped dig and build a new trade center, aimed to help the children acquire skills such as welding, heating and air conditioning, sewing, cosmetology and restaurant management.

Odden also used her soccer skills on the trips, often playing with the kids. Street soccer is extremely popular in the community and Odden has helped organize games while there. She remembered the children’s touches on the ball were extremely advanced for their age.

This year’s trip was particularly important to Odden since they couldn’t travel to Guatemala from 2020-22 due to the pandemic. In her absence, Odden became concerned that the children there would forget about their relationship with her. As many of them don’t have technology to communicate, Odden sent letters to keep in touch. Going back in 2023 allowed Odden to see the physical and mental growth of the children.

The work with Hogar’s Helping Hands has given Odden an added appreciation for her life at Syracuse.

“I’ve gotten a lot better at looking forward to going to class rather than complaining about it, ” Odden said. “It’s made me super grateful for being at Syracuse and getting my education.”

When preparing to go on the trip, Odden knew the organization was searching for more young role models to the children of the village. She thought there was no better place to look than within her Syracuse community. She messaged athletes from other teams at SU to join. Men’s track and field runner Alex Segarra joined her and Cobb.

Courtesy of Liesel Odden

Liesel Odden and her father speak during a Hogar’s Helping Hands event.

“As a student-athlete you have a little bit of a platform,” Odden said. “It’s cool to try and use that to help other people.”

Throughout the week, Cobb became closer with Odden. Cobb said the pair began each morning with construction work on the future technical skills school before bible school started in the afternoon. Following bible school, Cobb, Odden and Segarra were given hours of time to spend with the children, playing soccer or running around the playground.

“I think doing any type of community service with someone inevitably makes you closer,” Cobb said. “You see things that you don’t get to see everyday.”

One part of the week that stood out to Cobb was when she led a group of children on a trip to a nearby amusement park. Due to funding running low, the Odden family paid for the excursion. The kids got to go on amusement park rides and eat ice cream as a reward for good behavior in school.

“There was a huge language barrier, but it didn’t matter because we had so much fun,” Cobb said. “The kids were so nice and helped me figure out what to say when needed.”

Cobb said she plans on returning to Guatemala with the Oddens in 2024. Next time, she hopes to have her mother, Marissa, with her. Odden said Cobb’s involvement and experiences generated interest from teammates for future trips.

“At first I thought this was a once in a lifetime thing,” Odden said. “But once you’re there you build such deep connections in a short time that makes you want to keep coming back and make it a yearly thing.”

Published on October 5, 2023 at 12:01 am

Contact Aiden at: amstepan@syr.edu | @AidenStepansky