Feliz Navidad

I´m certain that mostly everyone is either buzzing with excitement or overwhelmed with the stress that typically accompanies the holiday seasons. One of the reasons I chose to volunteer in Peru during this time of the year was to gain a different perspective of how the holiday seasons are celebrated in an impoverished country.

I´ve come to realize that children that are not as fortunate as the majority of children in the United States are the most resilient and most appreciative beings I have ever seen. They find ways to be joyous and happy despite their circumstances. Now don´t get me wrong, they have hopes and dreams of a better world. However, most of them dream of better world that consist of things that we take for granted in our little comfy part of the world - such as access to heat during the cold seasons (which is longer than our typical winter) and non-contaminated drinking water. They´ve never heard of government assistance, welfare, DFACS or even WIC for that matter. I´ve watched families, including men, women and children lined up on the side of the road waiting by ditches or dirt trenches to wash their dirty clothes. How´s that for sanitation regulation.

Their sewage systems are so inadequate that you are not allowed to place your used toilet paper in the toilet which really took me a long time to get adjusted to. If they only knew what a hard time I had complying with that rule, they would have an All-Points-Bulletin out on the short chubby blond haired gringa with a dark complexion. All I can say is oops!

All in all, I´ve learned that no one human being is of greater or lesser importance than another human being. They just have greater or lesser needs to be met.

The price of this volunteer program: $6000 dollars
The price of round trip airfare: $1500
The price to maintaining my financial responsibilities while away: $3000
The price of the smile on those kids faces when I show up every day to work with them and especially when I showed up with a chocolate cake I baked them for Christmas: Priceless!
You do the Math!

Until next time remember….Do what you can with what you have from where you are.

Much Love,
The Diva