In Conversation With: Billy Liptrot

Billy Liptrot is a student at the Pingree School in Hamilton, Massachusetts. He is actively involved in Nuestros Pequeños Hermanos, an organization that provides homes for thousands of orphaned and abandoned children in Latin America. Read how Billy's volunteer work at NPH inspired him and his advice for HWRHS students looking to make a difference.

1. Please describe the different projects that you've been involved in surrounding social good. What inspired you to take part in them, and how did you find these opportunities?

I am involved with a set of orphanages in Latin America and the Caribbean called Nuestros Pequeños Hermanos (meaning “Our Little Brothers and Sisters” in Spanish). I travelled there with part of my 8th grade class at the Glen Urquhart School with the goal to make a difference in other people’s lives. However, that experience did quite the opposite (in a good way); it made a difference in my life. Before travelling to one of the NPH orphanages in the Dominican Republic in 2013, I feared that I would lack the proper communication skills. I feared that I wouldn’t be able to affect their lives if I couldn’t even have a normal conversation with them in their native language. Yet, that didn’t affect anything. Even though I doubted my Spanish-speaking capabilities, I still was able to meet the most amazing and generous people in my life. I envisioned that the children would be depressed (given their difficult past), however, again, I was wrong. Those kids at the orphanage have a smile on their face every single day.

2. What advice can you give HWRHS students about how they can make a difference in the world and find their careers and passions?

The one piece of advice I can give to HWRHS students is to GET INVOLVED. Find a special organization that means a lot to you personally, and start volunteering. Hopefully you will be able to make as special of a connection to the organization as I did to NPH. It doesn’t matter if the outreach is local or global. Just get involved. If you want to improve your language skills in addition to volunteering, travel to a different country that natively speaks the language you are learning, while volunteering. If you are not that interested in global outreach, start local. Volunteer at a soup kitchen, food pantry, or shelter in your community. I promise you that any service will be rewarding, no matter the location. Join the Outreach Club and I am sure they can shed some light on you as to where to begin!

3. What are you looking forward to doing in the future?

I cannot wait to return on March 14 to an NPH home in the Dominican Republic. I am so excited to see the children who have probably grown so much in the past two years, and hopefully they remember me as I remember them. The orphanage is such a special community and I am counting down the hours until I return.

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