Sad Day in Costa Rica
Trip Start
Jun 14, 2009
1
19
Trip End
Jul 05, 2009
Cartago, Province of Cartago, Costa Rica
Friday, July 3, 2009
Cristian, a 13 year old boy, took a large sheet of paper and secretly went to all of the children and the tias and traced their handprints on the paper and had them write me a message. He gave me the poster before I left. It was sooo sweet! The young boys drew me pictures as well.
I wrote a little note to the children and one to the tias (using my Spanish dictionary) to express my thoughts to them. They seemed to really appreciate it.
When I left the orphanage, all of the children hugged me and the tias did as well. As my van pulled away, they were all standing in the doorway waving to me. It really touched my heart.
During my experience here, I have been questioning whether or not I have really been making a difference to the kids. I had pretty much concluded that I have not been making a difference. But, today, I changed my mind. For the 3 weeks that I have been here, I have entertained the kids for 4 hours a day and provided them with love and attention. I brought sunshine to their gloomy situations and helped them enjoy their days. Do I think I made a lifelong impact on these children? No. But, I am confident that for at least the last three weeks, I have made a difference in their lives. That is good enough for me!
In addition to saying my good-byes at the orphanage, I have to say good-bye to the other volunteers that I have met here. While I am not leaving until Sunday morning, some volunteers are leaving tomorrow morning and other volunteers, who are staying longer, are leaving this afternoon to go away for the weekend. I am not fond of good-byes so I think I will keep them short and sweet. I really hope to stay in touch with many of the people I met here. They are wonderful people.
I have to "leave my mark" at the home base tonight. Before volunteers leave, they leave their handprint and if desired, a quote, on the wall of the home base. Hopefully, my lack of artistic ability will not be apparent!
Tomorrow I am getting up at 4 to go on a day trip to Tortuga Island. I am hoping for a relaxing day before I make my journey home!
Comments
I think you can be sure that you've touched the lives and hearts of these children for a lifetime. If you made this much of an impression on them in 3 weeks (and you know you did because you felt it returned), the effect is everlasting. This I believe and you should, too.