I may not have a penny, but I have faith
Where to begin? What an amazing and humbling day. We started the day off with a trip to a local church, community centre, and school. We listened to the pastor speak about his dream to better the community and speak about his vision, a vision not many people would dare to try to bring to reality. We saw hands-on what he was able to bring to this community and how one person can truly make a difference. One quote that really stood out that he said was, “I may not have a penny, but I have faith.” After meeting this gentleman, you truly believe that any single person can make a difference, as long as you have a dream and a vision. To listen to someone so inspiring and with such passion was truly such a privilege and something I will never forget. After meeting him we had the pleasure of playing basketball with the school children and a few games of jump rope.
After this visit, we continued on to another community called La Union. There are many things that I could write that truly would never do justice to this experience. Before you even get off the bus, the children are lined up with open hearts, smiles from ear to ear and a hand for you to grab. The minute they meet you, and you meet them, there is an instant connection. You look around and see the level of poverty these children and their families are living in, you would never believe how big their smiles are and how joyful they still are. They welcome you as if you have been friends forever.
The third and final stop of the day was to meet the families we will work with for the duration of the trip to build these wonderful homes for in Aguas Negra. Again, the entire community greeted us with open arms and smiles from ear to ear. It is truly surreal to look around and see the living conditions these families are living in and to try to understand where their smiles and laughter come from. For the first time, I truly realized that these people will be doing much more for me, than we will ever be doing for them.
Amanda, Emerging Media Coordinator
