The Citadel’s emphasis on character development plays an important role in the education of its students and is why graduates are in high demand. On Leadership Day, one of the most important days of the cadet year, students engage in educational development outside the classroom through community service and dedicated leadership training. For the cadets of St. Alban’s Anglican Chapel, a campus ministry, servant leadership doesn’t happen just once a year—it’s a way of life.
In June, Rev. Rob Sturdy, ’03, led 10 cadets from St. Alban’s on a mission trip to Honduras. For six days, the group volunteered with the LAMB Institute, a ministry based in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, that works to make a better life for children facing poverty and abuse.
While the LAMB Institute sponsors many initiatives in Tegucigalpa, including a daycare, a bilingual school and a program that helps students access higher education, the cadets focused their efforts on the Children’s Home, an orphanage for children suffering from neglect. “The LAMB Institute is doing a lot for Honduras,” said Josh Sims, ’25, cadet chaplain for Second Battalion. “Even though we were just one small part, it felt as if we were part of something that is making a significant impact.”
During their stay, the cadets spent long days helping to construct a multi-use building for the orphanage. Housed by the LAMB Institute, the group traveled each day to lay the foundation for bathroom facilities. “They had dump trucks come in and pour gravel and dirt, and we had bags of cement, so we were mixing it all up,” said Sims. “We did it multiple times a day; it was hard, but it felt like we were doing something good.”
In addition to hauling gravel and mixing concrete, the group helped sand a deck attached to a bus that had been converted into a coffee shop and upgraded one of the living cabins with fresh paint and necessities such as toilet seats, mirrors and new bed sheets. Familiar with hard work, cadets lent a helping hand wherever they were needed. “The Citadel normalizes long hours, hardship and service,” said Sturdy. “It normalizes the idea that if other people aren’t willing to do something, our students should be willing to step up. I thought they really exemplified that belief.”
Sims, who has been on four previous mission trips to Guatemala, knew what to expect. A seasoned traveler, the business management major found a Citadel mission trip to be uniquely rewarding. “One thing I thought was really cool about our group is that we really wanted to get things done,” said Sims. “We were not goofing off—we were working hard and trying to make an impact.”
Although much of the cadets’ days were spent working to improve the on-site facilities, their most important work was spent making connections with the children. “Cadets had so many ways of showing the kids that they were important,” said Sturdy. “They learned their names and played games with them.”
After several days of strenuous labor in an unfamiliar country, Sims faced his greatest challenge yet—roller skating. Of the many activities cadets did with the children, including volleyball, soccer and face painting, skating proved to be the most difficult. “I wasn’t very good at it,” said Sims, who was happy to find that his background in gymnastics was the perfect way to break the ice. “As a joke, I decided to walk on my hands because it was easier for me than skating. I told them that I could teach them how to do it, too.
The next day, the children took him up on his offer. On a rare stretch of flat land among the rolling hills that surrounded the home, Sims began teaching the elementary and middle schoolers how to do handstand walks, front and back handsprings, and back tucks. Other members of the team joined in, including Sturdy, who took his own turn showing off his handstand. “Showing those kids—who are going to carry a lifelong wound from whatever their reason is for being there—that they matter is really what counted the most,” said Sturdy.
After a gratifying week of hard work and meaningful time with the children, the St. Alban’s cadets are eager to return next year. Sims is already planning to bring gymnastics equipment to help teach the kids new tricks. “It gave me perspective and showed me how much I have to be grateful for,” said Sims. “In the future, I want our group to do some community outreach here in Charleston.”
Sturdy believes mission work helps to develop cadets as global citizens. “The biggest impact is giving Citadel students a vision that they can make a difference with the vulnerable people in their own communities.”