I was a little skeptical and doubtful about what I could offer and give. However on this trip I realized, we (volunteers) plan to give and give and give in whatever ways we can help to these people, we think about what we are going to build and how noble we are. In the end, it is we who are actually on the receiving end. At the end of each activity or interaction, it is we who learned more, we who benefitted more by realizing how different and how fortunate we are, we who feel more blessed because what we give in life makes us who we are. These people will always be there and probably never leave their community. They have all they need and comfortable with what they have. Going there and being part of that community showed me that there was nothing I could offer except to spend time with them and learn more about their culture and lifestyle. We were the ones who were constantly at awe with the things that they did and food that they eat.
Communities like this share a special uniqueness, that special bond where everyone is family despite not being of the same bloodline.
What I took away from this trip with me was the fact that no matter how different we are in terms of skin color, language, race, religion, the people there are still exceptionately friendly and kind and concern about your well being. I got stung by a hornet on one of the days there and it was quite painful, giving me two days of bad headache and I could not participate in most of the activities. However the village people were really concerned and they kept coming up to me and asking whether I was fine. They even stood around me and watch me as I slept. Who was I to them? They could have just put me aside on a bed and attend to their daily needs but they choose to look after me even though it meant bringing me to their village “witch doctor”. I was very touched and warmed by their gesture and it showed me, that humanism was very real there and like us, they are also human beings with a curiosity for life.
