A recent life changing experience.

[Afficionado]

Hey ya'll, some of you know me, and some don't, but i feel i should share this anyway.

I've been fairly distant from all things internet related since my wedding. I realized my life was far out of balance and things were just not going quite right. It was fairly devastating for my relationship and i just started to become a person i didn't like. in the words of layne, aesthetic, but still an asshole.

I'm not going to say i'm cured of all that now, but I AM working on a healthy balance and i feel much more appreciative of life.

Fast forward to about a week and a half ago and i left for a mission trip to the dominican republic. This trip had more of an effect on my life than ANYTHING else previous to this.

I went down there to try to help others, but really, they helped me grow more than i could imagine.

We finished building a school, finished a church, and started another church while we were there.

When we went out into the villages, we played with all of the children, gave them clean water, taught them about hygiene and being healthy, gave them medical care, and i gave them my clothes before i left.


Being around these children changed my entire out look on life. they had NOTHING....NOTHING... at one point three girls were describing to me how they had jobs and were working but were still very hungry because their family did not have enough money for food, and they were between the ages of 8-14.

Despite what i saw as very bad circumstances, they were happier than me! wtf?

At one point, the oldest girl who was 14 wanted me to take her back to the states so she could get an education and escape the life she was doomed to. I think she also wanted to "be" with me, but i think that might have gotten mixed up in translation as my spanish is pretty shoddy and they don't know any english.

Most of the kids did not have properly fitting shoes, which they REALLY needed because the streets were covered in broken glasses and the roads were built on very rocky terrain. Many kids didn't have clothes that fit, and some boys didn't wear clothes at all. Many of the children would get minor cuts that would get majorly infected.

I could go on and bore you guys, but I would rather just answer questions you actually care about.

So if you want, go ahead and ask me anything.

I'm still in quite a shock coming back to the states and am a bit depressed and sick about it. I want to still be down there with them to help. It feels really shitty living a life of luxury... I'm not trying to be melodramatic, but you can't imagine the feeling unless you've done it before.


Ask away, and i may add my own updates and pictures if you guys care about those.

[Guest]

pics?

[Afficionado]

pics?

I haven't gotten to them yet, but i will try to get some up tomorrow.

[Azagtoth502]

It's all a part of making yourself a better person.

[pioneerforlife]

Despite what i saw as very bad circumstances, they were happier than me! wtf?

^This. I have had friends go on mission trips and every one said something similar to this. I plan on going on one soon. my school does lots

of them. everyone I know who has been on one has said very positive things about them.

[philrab]

Had a lot of the same experience in Iraq. No one that has never left the U.S. can truly imagine what poverty is, true poverty.

While I was overseas, we unfortunately had to demolish someone's home. It came to our attention an insurgent was using it as a weapons depot, and the only safe way to deal with it was to blow it and him to pieces with a aerial bomb. Sending troops in the front door, he'd just detonate it and kill everyone. We did what we had to do.

The next day, the family returned, saw a crater where their home was, everything they had lost, (farm) animals scattered. What meager existence they had made for themselves we had destroyed. They approached our post, our translater went out to speak with the husband/father, and we related that we regretted destroying his home, and explained the circumstances. We offered to rebuild it for them, and try to make things right. He smiled and replied that they could handle rebuilding the home, they were just glad we'd gotten rid of the insurgent, that now they'd be left in peace. By God, they had that home put back together that evening with the help of some neighbors, and by the next day were wrangling animals and getting things back together.

Imagine how someone from our country would react to coming home one day, and everything they had was taken from them. They'd likely break down, cry, get angry; this guy THANKED us and shouldered that load. It was one of the most humbling things I've ever seen, that this family living in a ramshackle house barely scratching out a living can have that happen to them, and they are so tough and committed to each other they didn't even flinch. It'll change your whole perspective on what's really important.

[Afficionado]

Despite what i saw as very bad circumstances, they were happier than me! wtf?

^This. I have had friends go on mission trips and every one said something similar to this. I plan on going on one soon. my school does lots

of them. everyone I know who has been on one has said very positive things about them.

good for you, do NOT pass up the opportunity, it will change you for the better.

It's all a part of making yourself a better person.

oh yeah, for sure.

[soundstream15]

Mission trips are very life changing. Everyone needs to go on one. Your heart breaks and you grow as a better person and your outlook on life will be better.

I need to go on another

[Broke_Audio_Addict]

Sounds like a great life experience.

[BassDragon]

I've been wanting to go somewhere like this and help as much as I can for a while now. It's amazing how thankful they are for all the little things that they have. Hopefully I'll get to be a linguist for the USAF and so I could travel and communicate 1 on 1 with people like that.

OP - It's good to know you've changed those children's lives for the better.