2021 Travel Team Member Feature: Olivia Navari

We are excited to continue our new blog series! In this series, we highlight members of our incredible 2021 Travel Team who will accompany us during Mission 2021 to Antigua, Guatemala. 

Travel Team Members generously volunteer their time, talent, and energy toward our goal: providing the gift of mobility to patients in need. From October 2nd through October 9th 2021, we will be in Antigua to accomplish that goal.

This year’s trip to Antigua will be our sixth to Guatemala, and our eleventh trip overall. We thoroughly enjoy the time we spend at Obras Sociales del Santo Hermano Pedro, our partner hospital in Antigua, which we affectionately call our home away from home. We love the staff there and truly think of them all as family.

Olivia is a Cheerleader at Plum High School

Let’s turn our attention to our next featured Travel Team Member, Olivia Navari! Olivia is one of our younger Travel Team members, and is heading into her senior year at Plum High School in the suburbs of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Olivia has had a very successful high school career thus far. She has been involved with cheerleading since the third grade, as well as lacrosse since the seventh grade. She excels in the classroom with honors level classes, as well as outside of the classroom with clubs and athletics. Upon high school graduation, Olivia plans to go on to college and hopes to gain career inspiration through her involvement with Operation Walk Pittsburgh. 

Olivia is a Pittsburgh native, and still lives in the area with her parents. She loves the professional sports that Pittsburgh has to offer, and the passion that the city shows for those teams all year long. Olivia is heavily involved in athletics, academics, and extracurricular activities within her school and community.

Outside of her academic and athletic work, Olivia enjoys spending time outside with her friends. Whether she’s spending time in the snow during the winter or the pool during the summer, the outdoors are her favorite place to be. She also enjoys traveling with her family. Her favorite place that she has traveled to is the Bahamas, where she enjoyed the tropical weather and exotic atmosphere.

Oliva will be joining the Travel Team this year as one of its non-clinical, humanitarian volunteers. Humanitarian volunteers help out around the hospital making sure that supplies are where they need to be, handling administrative tasks, and working with patients and their families. They’re often the extra set of hands that make the difference between a very well run mission and a perfectly smooth mission. 

Olivia will also use the mission as a way to practice her Spanish, which she has studied throughout high school. While not an official translator, Olivia’s informal participation in this role will help foster community and fellowship between the Team and our patients. 

Olivia Playing Lacrosse for Plum High School

All of our Travel Team Members work hard to meet a fundraising goal, helping to cover a portion of the total cost of critically needed supplies and equipment for Mission 2021. We are deeply thankful for each and every one of our Travel Team Members’ support, including Olivia’s!

“I wanted to apply to attend the trip because I enjoy helping people. I also wanted to see if this field of work is something that I enjoy when I have to decide my path for college and the future.”             - Olivia

Please consider making a donation in Olivia’s name to support her fundraising commitment. Remember, 100% of all donations made to Operation Walk Pittsburgh directly support patient care during the mission. Will you help Olivia reach her fundraising goal?