SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - A humanitarian mission to Tanzania has 15 Yellowknife youths in line to meet the Tanzanian president, and possibly be privy to a private meeting with the Pope, starting the last week of June and going until the last week of August next year.

Grace Baldwin, left, and Brad Fillion work a BBQ booth on Canada Day to raise funds for their trip to Tanzania, and to pay for a windmill they will construct to power an irrigation system for a Tanzanian village. - photo courtesy of Brian Carter

"We're going to fund and build one windmill and one irrigation system for one village. We're going to be there for two months working day in and day out in forty degree temperature," said deacon Brian Carter, the organizer of the trip.

Carter is the district chaplain for Yellowknife Catholics Schools and the deacon for St. Patrick's Church. He first found out about this trip while looking for "a social justice project that teenagers might be able to get their teeth into."

"I looked into a lot of things and many of the (trips) that schools have done in the past have been very educational, but primarily sight-seeing trips," said Carter.

A fellow deacon informed Carter of the Missionaries of the Precious Blood, and put Carter in touch with Anthony Canterucci, a brother with the group who has been going to Tanzania to provide aid since 1967.

"I discovered that for the past 40 years (Canterucci has) been bringing groups of Canadian high school students over to Tanzania to work on a specific project and that was to build windmills that would pump water," said Carter.

"They would build wells and the windmills would keep a constant flow of water to villages where in the past there was never any water. Most of the villagers usually had to walk for 10 or 12 or 13 kilometres every day to bring the water back on their heads in jugs."

Carter said that because of this project, more than 700 villages in Tanzania now have access to water.

"The work is not even close to completion," said Carter, adding that past missions have also built orphanages and schools, and Carter's group will be helping out with those as well.

Originally, Carter's group was made up of 30 youths, but 15 have dropped out during the past year-and-a-half of fundraising. The group is funding the entire operation, which Carter estimates to cost $100,000.

They've raised about $40,000 so far.

"We've got the core group right now and they've been just tremendous," said Carter.

"The kids know two things – it's going to involve a lot of work and long days, and secondly, because we're working with the missionaries, it's going to be faith-based, and the kids are looking forward to that as well," said Carter.

Yellowknifer asked Shawna Bassett, 18, one of the youths going to Tanzania, what she's most looking forward to.

"Just helping out, I guess, in general. I've always wanted to do something like that. It's going to be an eye-opener – I've never really left Canada," said Bassett.

She was also pumped on the possibility of meeting the Pope.

The group has several fundraising endeavours planned for the time leading up to the trip.

They are wrapping gifts in the mall as of last Friday, and are planning for a spaghetti dinner at some point in January, and then the efforts will culminate with a big event on March 27.

"We've got a big gala night at the Explorer Hotel on March 27, in which we have African art that was donated by the government of Tanzania for silent auction. The Yellowknife Choral Society is planning to sing the Lord's Prayer in Swahili," said Carter.

"We've got African entertainment and we've got a whole lot of other stuff that we're still working on right now. It's going to be an evening of entertainment, dancing, and fundraising."

Carter has spoken with people who have previously gone on the trip, and said he's heard humbling stories of change.

"They discover for themselves what is truly important in life and their priorities change when they come back," said Carter.

"These kids will come back from that trip, I think, changed."