Over the past two weeks I embarked on an incredible and, to say the very least- life altering journey to Poland and Germany. The purpose? To meet with young people that live with life threatening disabilities, and bring a little joy into their home.
We did this by granting them "wishes". These could be anything that they wanted as long as it would put a smile of their face. Over the course of the trip, we were split into two groups and collectively granted 23 wishes to 23 different children that had been essentially ostracized from society and in one case; abandoned at birth. These wishes ranged from makeup to laptops, or game consoles and even a medical vest for a three year old girl with Cystic Fibrosis that would make her day to day living conditions slightly easier.
Now, I've had the whole eurotrip experience with my school and explored the very tip of touristy European culture before. The parts we (or at least I) naively believe portrayed a large majority of the continent. Needless to say, this was not even remotely the case and the past 12 days have been if nothing else: eye opening for me. It is something I cannot wait to have the privilege to take part in again, and hopefully quite soon. Just talking to these families that have absolutely nothing but still remain positive and strong, even throughout the poor hand of which they've been dealt was enough to make me tear up upon reflecting. These amazing people let complete strangers into their lives and did everything and more to make us feel at home. For many of the wishes we granted, we were told that it wasn't even the gifts that put a smile on these children's faces, it was simply the company, care, and friendship we had provided to them for just a short few hours.
To conclude, because I really am dragging on, I loved every waking second of this experience. Although many tears were shed, many more lifelong friends were made and I continue to speak regularity with many of these kids and their families through Facebook. I am counting down the days until I get to see some of them again.
Cheers,
D.
