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UPDATED: Whiz Kid Gives Hugs, Love to Haitian Children

When offered an opportunity to help the impoverished nation, Berkley High School grad said, "I just knew I had to do this."

Sarah Dooley

School: Recent graduate of

Accomplishment: Sarah Dooley of Berkley joined the Mission of Hope from Kensington Community Church in Troy April 2-9 on a trip to Haiti to help rebuild the devastated the nation and its capital, Port-au-Prince, after a 7.0 magnitude earthquake struck in 2010. The group of high-schoolers was in charge of some light construction work and children's activities at the Mission of Hope facility in a nearby village.

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'My heart breaks for these people'

Dooley said when she heard of the mission to help the children of Haiti, she was instantly on board. She estimated that 25-50 high-schoolers from Michigan joined her on the spring break trip that took them to the impoverished nation still devastated after the Jan. 12, 2010, quake.

"I have a passion for traveling and mission work," she said. "My heart just breaks for these people. I just knew I had to do this."

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Dooley said when she arrived in Haiti, she was surprised at how "touchy" the people were, particularly the children.

"In the villages, children would just run to you," she said. "The babies just needed to be held. They didn't get a lot of love."

The group would engage the children in games that didn't require a lot of speaking, because of the language barrier between the missionaries and the children. Dooley said they would draw pictures, play hand games like "slaps," throwing games and a lot of soccer.

"And we just showed them a lot of love," she said.

Dooley plans to work with kids more this summer. She said she will be busy babysitting and getting ready for college. Dooley will attend Central Michigan University in the fall and is thinking of majoring in human services or abnormal psychology.

Children still in need

Even before the deadly earthquake hit Haiti, the country, one of the world's poorest, was awash in orphans.

An estimated 380,000 children were living in orphanages or group homes, the United Nations Children's Fund reported on its Web site. The earthquake left tens of thousands more orphaned or separated from their parents. One year later Haiti’s 4 million children continue to suffer from inequitable access to basic water, sanitation, health care and education services and protection from disease, exploitation and unsanitary conditions, UNICEF said in a January report

Visit the Mission of Hope for upcoming dates of mission trips or to get involved.

Correction: Sarah Dooley's name was spelled incorrectly in a previous version of this article.

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