SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - Fourteen Yellowknife youth and three chaperons are returning from Tanzania today after volunteering at an orphanage and helping to build a windmill to pump water for a village there.

Anne Elder, a Yellowknife youth, is shown here with a child at the Ursuline Sisters' AIDS orphanage in Tanzania during a humanitarian trip this summer. - photo courtesy of Michele LeTourneau

The initiative is part of the organization, Missionaries of the Precious Blood.

On June 28 the youth, aged 17 and 18, travelled to a village outside of the city of Dodoma, Tanzania where they have stayed for a majority of the summer.

The group have been keeping a blog about their time in the African country and have posted pictures on the Internet.

"There wasn't a single person who didn't have a smile on their face and happiness and excitement in their eyes," wrote Chloe LeTourneau, 19, on the website, describing the reaction to when the windmill was first put into operation.

"The entire experience was incredible and in only those few moments everything we have worked for, all the fundraising and energy that we've poured into this project for the past two years was completely worth it, without a doubt."

The windmill's tail is painted with a golden knife and a Northwest Territories license plate that reads "Big Wind" - the official windmill name.

Approximately $60,000 was raised through various fundraisers held by the group over the last two years.

Brian Carter, deacon with Yellowknife Catholic Schools and head of the project, first found out about this trip while looking for "a social justice project that teenagers might be able to get their teeth into."

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

"It's quite an emotional experience for them," said Carter who was keeping track of the group's progress from Yellowknife. "They completed every aspect of the project."

For LeTourneau's mother, Michele, it was a simple explanation as to why her daughter decided to participate in the project. "She's a giver," she said.

Michele has been putting together the website tracking the progress of the group.

"My heart clutched," said Michele when she read her daughter's entry describing when the windmill first came into operation.

"They put in a lot of hard work and I'm proud of all of them."

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