FINAL THOUGHTS - LAURA

It's so hard for me to compile into a paragraph or two what this experience has meant to me. However, it must be recognized that what has been an "experience" for me, is the every day life for the people of El Salvador. They continue to live their lives while I'm back safe and comfortable in my 950sq foot apartment...something modest by American standards, yet beyond a dream for those that we visited on our trip.  It sounds ridiculous to say, for only being gone for ONE week, I find myself having to acclimate to life back here in the states. From the moment I wake up in the morning, I'm constantly reminded of all the contrasts that exist and find myself feeling guilty for having all that I do and how easy my life is.  No matter any problem that may come up in my life...it's really just a nuisance compared to what I've witnessed others having to survive with or survive from. After all, I have a bed to sleep in at night, fresh water to wash with and drink, food at my finger tips.....two dogs and a cat that live more comfortably than 80% of human beings in El Salvador...it's humbling and hard to swallow.  

 

If I could have, I would have brought every single person I came in contact with back here with me to my apartment.  Unlike La Casa, however, I am completely unprepared to do this and naive as to what that really entails.  I am grateful to have had the opportunity to collaborate with and learn about a Foundation that does what I dream to do one day in some capacity.  They not only have removed these children from a horrifying environment, but they cover all grounds so that they will be rehabilitated and never find themselves in those circumstances again. They are sheltered, clothed, fed, educated, protected, supported, loved and guided. What a dream to be able to provide this to countless people! Although this Foundation is the only one out of the 64 orphanages in El Salvador that function this way, I'm so proud to say that I was a part of it.  With our team and resources, we were able to add one more piece to the puzzle and become a part of something so positive and life-changing for all people involved.  

El Salvador itself, is a beautiful, majestic country.  The colors they use, the plants and flowers so vibrant and plentiful! Unfortunately, it is over taken by poverty and gang violence.  Interwoven in the panorama of what you see, are 15 foot cement walls reinforced with coiled, sometimes electrified, barbed-wire at the top lining every street.  It's a reminder of where we are, what the country has and continues to go through.  Although I didn't fully realize it at the time, people walk around with a constant fear of something that could happen at any moment.  Although this was explained to me by the locals, it became more real to me as soon as my feet hit the ground in the Atlanta airport.  I exhaled a deep breath and felt free again.  I wasn't free just because I no longer had to play translator and interpreter for 13 needy people in our group (hehe, jk!...kinda), moreover, I knew I could walk around freely without any immediate danger.  I inherently knew that if something did, for whatever reason, happen,  there would be more than a 5% chance that a perpetrator would be captured and punished...that the executive branch and judicial system was on my side...I was protected. I was proud to be American and lucky to have been....by no choice of my own...born on US soil.  

 

Our team was just that...a team...the absolute BEST team at that!  I deeply miss co-existing with this group of people.  They were my teammates for months in preparation for the trip, but absolutely my FAMILY for the week we were there.  We teased each other, sweated together, cried together, ate together, shared stories together, laughed together, prayed together and most importantly, served a greater purpose than our own together.  We lead our own lives, however, will always be connected and bonded through this experience!  I love you all!!!

As the phone calls, texts and meet ups commence now that I'm back, I struggle with how to answer, "so how was your trip?!"  For lack of the ability to summarize it, I usually end up saying, "it was unlike anything else I've ever experienced."  There are so many life lessons to pass along from this experience, but I feel very few people would truly understand unless they actually experience it themselves.  Therefore, I usually follow up with, "if you ever get the opportunity to go, I totally recommend it."  

 

We, as a society, take so much for granted.  If I could impart one life lesson that you consider and apply to your every day lives, it would be to be careful what you complain about and let yourself worry about.  You have no idea how good you really have it, how many opportunities are at your finger tips and how much you could actually be giving back to people that are less fortunate than yourself.  Step back and analyze: are you unappreciative, ungrateful, too lazy, selfish or blind to see all that you have?  Are you misusing the resources that you are blessed with?  There are people out there with much, much less than you could ever even imagine. 

I'm not sure where this journey will take me or what God has in store for me in the future, but I do know that this experience touched my heart and pulled on my soul-strings.  I hope that I'm lead down a path that will enable me to make a difference in other peoples lives, spread hope and happiness, as this Foundation has to so many children and community members.  

I want to especially thank those that supported me and sponsored me in order for this experience to happen.  You not only started the ball in motion for me to be a changing factor both in my own community and in the world, but you provided so much more to these people in El Salvador.  In addition to just getting me there, you helped to provide these children and community members with countless meals, crafts, necessary daily supplies, a new home and a brighter future.  This trip along with all it's moving parts shared love, selflessness and hope to all those that we served.  From the most profound parts of my heart...Thank You!!!!

My favorite, funniest moments & forever memories:

-Luciano

-Bryan negotiating 2 "camiones" for $10 on the street... "camion" means truck...he meant to say "camisa" (shirt)

-Maria, Matt & I prank calling Wayne in Spanish...and then him calling me and telling me to prank call Bryan in Spanish because he thought it was him! 

-Bryan telling us about his "first time" in El Salvador...he realized that maybe Elizabeth DOES know a little more Spanish than him? ;)

-Wayne calling me over to translate what this old lady was saying to him on the street...and me having to politely,awkwardly explain to him that she was telling him, "he's chubby and needs to walk more so his face wouldn't turn so red while we were walking" haha!

-Bryan putting his hands in the air on the bus as we were going up/down the bumpy road out to the farm as if it were a rollarcoaster

-Heather liking Roxanne's axe.  Yes, Maddie, her axe :)

-A family or two always saving a space for me at breakfast! <3

-Wayne starting "Hi ho, hi ho" on the bus in the morning and everyone continuing "it's off to work we go!" And the bus driving laughing at us

-Me and 5 yr old Ricardo calling each other different names every time we saw each other and laughing hysterically at it

-Teaching "give me five, on the side, up high, down low, too slow" to some of the kids and them not knowing what i was and getting a complete kick out of it!!!

-The whole Casa singing their 4 verse Happy Birthday songs in Spanish to Cole and Tucker...with acoustic guitar accompaniment

-Us freely talking about our digestive/stomach issues and our hopes that when we would be shoveling we wouldn't exert too much effort and...

-...PUPUSAS!!!!!!!!!!!!!