As part of a mission trip to Uganda, Africa, Sandy Hook resident 18-year-old Tim Vander Have sought to make a positive impact on the lives of orphaned children and widowed mothers. By the time his week-and-a-half-long visit to the war-torn country was complete, Mr Vander Have found that a difference had been made in his life, too.

"It was just an amazing feeling. We went there to give to them, but they gave to us. They changed us more than we changed them," said Mr Vander Have, who was among 13 students representing Trumbull's Christian Heritage School for the July 5-16 trip.

Mr Vander Have, who will study mechanical engineering at Cedarville University in Cedarville, Ohio, in the fall, has been home schooled his entire life. He partnered with Christian Heritage in his junior and senior years to become involved with activities such as this mission trip. The Vander Have family attends Faith At Newtown Church in Sandy Hook.

When they arrived in Uganda, Mr Vander Have and his peers were welcomed by a swarm of about two dozen children who ran to them enthusiastically - immediately referring to them as aunts and uncles - and offering to carry their bags.

Rich In Joy

Recognizing how little some people have, yet how happy they are was an eye-opening experience for Mr Vander Have and his peers, he said.

"What's crazy about it is they literally have nothing, but the people are so happy. They're poor but they're rich in joy," said Mr Vander Have, who stayed in one of the homes in a 700-acre plot where Restoration Gateway has provided homes, education, and health for orphans. "It was a great experience," he said.

By the standards of most Americans, Ugandans do have very little.

Homes in the Restoration Gateway plot do have electricity, although they are solar-powered, so residents can run out from day to day, Mr Vander Have noted, and homes have running water that is drinkable.

Homes there do not have computers, though, and students possess very little - mainly necessary school books - but do have access to a computer lab, complete with internet connection, at Oaks of Righteousness School.

Thanks to the help provided, most all of Uganda's adults have cell phones, and most of the teenagers have an iPod or some sort of MP3 player. One of his most memorable experiences from the trip was helping a boy named Francis set up his iPod.

The students spent time with families in Uganda, working mainly with children who have lost their fathers or were orphans now living in residences with seven or eight other such children, and one adult role model, a woman referred to in Uganda as a "mama."

According to restorationgateway.org, 2,500,000 orphans struggle to survive in Uganda, 20 percent of children aged 6 to 17 are orphans, and half of them lost parents to HIV/AIDS.

As part of the mission trip, the volunteers stained a house and made bricks for what will become another home. "They're always building new homes," Mr Vander Have said.

"That was definitely the hardest work for sure," said Mr Vander Have, who also participated in a vacation bible school in which he interacted with children as young as 6 or 7 on up to 10 or 11 year olds.

He brought baseball caps from his American Legion team, the Admirals, to some of the residents, and played ball with them.

This experience had enough of an impact for Mr Vander Have that he hopes to go on another mission trip in the future.

"I definitely would love to do one again," he said.