War Eagle!
For the parents: Okay- I'm getting a little emotional. First of all, as the site leader, I'd like to say thank you to each of you for letting your kids come on this trip. With tears in my eyes as I'm typing this, I can confidently say I've never been so fond of a group of people. Throughout this week I've seen them laugh until there were tears in their eyes, comfort and hug one another during tough moments, and most importantly display their hearts on their sleeves not only to one another, but to the people of this country. Every single day they've pushed through their tiredness, lack of sleep, and the horrible heat of the day to truly serve with everything they've got. Tonight as we did our final closing I couldn't stop crying because of how much love I have for your kids- each one of them have became such good friends of mine. Seriously, we all plan on seeing each other often when we get back to auburn and plan to continue encouraging our hearts for service. So before we got to the blog portion of today written by the lovely Kat, I just had to let y'all know that if you aren't bragging about your kids, you should be. Proud is an understatement of the way I feel about them. In college, it's so easy to spend your spring break heading to the beach with your best friends. Your kids didn't do that. Instead, they signed up for a service trip, with a group of random strangers, heading to the Dominican Republic, doing something completely selfless. They went into this blind, but left with a whole new lens towards life. Be proud, very proud. Alright and now to the blog before I cry anymore:
LAST DAY BEST DAY!
Today was our last day of service, and needless to say, it was pretty emotional. We went to Bread of Life and played with the kids that we had gotten so close to all week. We stayed there all of the morning, served them lunch, and then said our very sad goodbyes. I can't describe the ache in all of our hearts as we watched them leave the front gate. As Shaby so eloquently put in our closing meeting tonight, "Love has no language." We spoke minimal Spanish, but we learned, loved, and grew because of these kids, and we can only hope that they benefitted the same from us.
We came back and had lunch and then went back out to the neighborhood park to finish prettying it up for the neighborhood kids. We originally had plans to revisit the refugee homes, but we were so invested in the park that we decided to stay. After the work was done, we played with the kids (sports, hand games, hair styling, everything) until the sun began to set.
Today was hot and long but felt sweet and short because of the amazing people placed in our paths.
We cannot thank you all enough for letting us come on this trip. We were all talking earlier today about how if we hadn't made simple, tiny decisions, some of us wouldn't be here. This trip was almost not going to happen, a lot of us applied late, a couple of us applied for other trips but ended up coming here, etc. Over the past week, we really have seen each other and the world around us in a different light.
Tomorrow, we play! We're headed to 27 Waterfalls for a day of fun swimming and hiking.
I want to close by sharing our statements of what we took away from this trip that we shared at our closing meeting:
- Don't worry about the little things because in the grand scheme of things, that's what they are, little things. // Ashley
- Actions speak louder than words. Showing you love someone/miss someone/care/worry/etc. means so much more than just saying it. // Kat
- 1. Make no peace with oppression. 2. Never underestimate an Auburn student [any student] again. (War Eagle) // Chris (faculty adviser)
- Never take any of your opportunities for granted. // Jena
- Always fight for happiness and positivity through pain and hardship. Your attitude about something is often what defines its impact. // Kate
- Relationships matter so much more than getting things done // Bailey
- Go where you in your heart are lead, no matter the obstacles. // Erin
- The path that we think is the right path for us may not be, and keeping our heart and minds open to the possibilities can and will change us for the better. // Becca (Becca wants you to know that she is not going to change her major, haha)
- Love has no boundaries -- language, religion, race, age, nothing. // Shaby
- It's okay to be stressed, but when stress does happen, rely on those closest to you, don't push them away. // Herron
- You can find joy out of anything -- a deflated basketball for a soccer ball, an unpaved basketball court, a game made out of recycled tires and milk cartons. Never forget to play. // Brendan
Adios,
Shaby Hakemy and Kat (the lovely blogger)
