Something I have been pondering recently: Volunteering in a country less developed than your own isn't just about "feeling bad for the poor so you help them and give them things" and it definitely isn't about "saving the world". It's about learning, immersing, and empathizing. It's about immersing yourself into the daily way of life and seeing how totally different it is than your own, and in this way you are learning, and the more you learn then the more you begin to put yourself in another's shoes and empathize. Once you are able to do this then you can begin to much more efficiently provide service for those people and that particular area. Often times mission trips will travel to another country with a particular goal like building a new school, yet they leave after it is build and who is there to run the school? Sometimes it takes learning more about a country and what it's needs are first before deciding to try to help. These are things I am still learning as well. Organizations in the states that "send you abroad to stay with a host family for $1,800 a week"... who do you think in a less developed country is spending $1,800 a week? Definitely not the family you're going to be staying with, that's for sure. So where is this money going to? Don't be fooled by things like this. You're money could be donated directly to the families opening their homes to you that you are learning from and serving. We aren't better than people in developing countries. We just happened to be born in an area with more opportunities and fortune. And I believe with these opportunities we are able to lend our time, money, and hands to those who were not. But we can't pretend to know we understand if we don't try first. It's not about us and our good deeds for ourselves, religions, universities, whatever. It is about them and their needs and how with what we have we can give. Don't be afraid to acknowledge there is a whole world out there waiting for us to be explored and understood! Love and empathy are needed just as much as food and shelter for some people. And most of us have much more to give than we may think ???✨???☺️

nakedbl0ndeeeさん(@nakedbl0ndeee)が投稿した動画 - 2016/08/14 02:10:01