I talked to my mom on the phone when I got back and told her what we had just done. She literally was silent. Your parents always try to teach you that “money doesn’t grow on trees” and tell you how blessed you are but until you actually live in it and see it first hand there is no way to truly understand. I encourage every person that is not on this trip and is reading this blog to go out somehow and try to capture and experience like this. When I was explaining it to my mom I almost felt uncomfortable talking to her about it because she is supposed to be the older and wiser one. She knows about poverty and has done more than her fair share of charity work but no one can ever understand it until they have been immersed in it.
For the first time ever, I feel like I have knowledge to share with my parents and that I am the one who slightly understands more about the world. Of course I don’t know everything and I would never say that I do but for the first time in my life I feel like I have almost surpassed my parents on a cultural level and that I have knowledge and experiences to share with them. From going to the bathroom in a “port-a-potty” outside to watching the love that was shared throughout the community, everything made an impact.
Ms. Susan, our house mom, summed it up perfectly for me, “We are poor, but we are happy.” Happiness for them doesn’t come from having the newest iPhone or going skiing for Christmas. It’s the little things that surround you; your friends, your family, and the comfort of being able to say I am happy. I think that is what I truly learned from spending the night in Sir Lowry’s Pass.
Life in 3 words: Never Stop Learning
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