Peru

Val began his YouthLINC experience with the Kenya Alum trip in May 2008 and also had the opportunity to participate in the July 2009 Peru Trip as MicroEnterpise mentor. On both trips he was accompanied by his wife, Diane who is a RN at McKay Dee Hospital. He is currently the Secretary-Treasurer of the Kaysville Rotary Club and had the opportunity to write the Grant Application for next years Rotary involvement in Palmeras Peru for the host rotary Club (Kaysville).

Val has always wanted to get involved in International Humanitarian Service and his experiences with Rotary and YouthLINC the last two years have been amazing. “The mission and program of YouthLINC are so compatable with my goals to see lifetime humanitarians of the rising generations while being able to do good internationally. The experiences in Africa and South America have had significant and life changing impacts on our lives.”

Val lives in South Weber where he previously served 3 terms on the City Council, is involved in community and church service. He served an LDS mission in Northern Argentina in 1972-4 and speaks “forgotten Spanish” but it started to come back after 2 weeks on the Amazon. By day he is employed as the Executive Vice President and CFO of Prime Alliance Bank and on the week-ends he enjoys ATVs, hiking slot canyons, kayaking, volleyball, and traveling. One special interest is exploring the Mayan ruins in Mexico, Honduras, and Guatamala which he had been able to do multiple times in the last decade or so.

He is looking forward to returning to Peru and being involved in the great things being done there, seeing friends there and be part of a new team of future YouthLINC Alums.

Stephen has been involved with YouthLINC for the last 2 years. He began his experience as a student, and then spent the next year as the alumni leader for the Peru team. Before YouthLINC, Stephen was the scholar for the Ronald McDonald House of Charities. His duties as the scholar were to volunteer at the Ronald McDonald House and assist with World Children’s Day. For World Children’s Day, Stephen was able to assist a McDonald’s branch in raising money for children in need all over the world. He consistently volunteered at the Ronald McDonald which housed families for little or no cost, while a family member was in the hospital. This experience allowed Stephen to see the power of caring and assisting others in need. Stephen has also been active in volunteering with Camp Hobe. At Camp Hobe Day Camp, he helps with fun-filled activities for the kids who are undergoing cancer treatments at various hospitals all around Utah.“For me, seeing the strength of the kids going through chemotherapy akes me feel that I can be as strong as they are. They inspired me to continue to help those in need and that was when I found YouthLINC.”

Stephen’s love and desire to serve others has driven him to pursue a career in medicine. He is currently undergoing the application process for medical schools and keeping and hopes to attend medical school in the fall of 2010.

Stephen enjoys playing basketball, tennis and golf. He also likes to read lots of books and watch lots of movies. He is excited to be serving as Team Leader this year for the Peru team and says he feels honored to be chosen. Stephen looks forward to working with Utah’s Young Humanitarian on this amazing journey.