Upon Return
by Rafael HarringtonDear Friends and Family,
As most of you may know, I recently completed my 27-month commitment at the Farm of the Child orphanage. It continues to truly amaze me that the commitment that I started in October 2004 is now a memory as though it was only a dream. My time at the Farm was truly a blessing in which has changed me for the better and left a lasting impression on me.
Looking back to September of 2004, I remember thinking, “wow that is a long time, what if i don’t make it?” Well, I made it and have come to realize that to work closely with teenagers one needs to truly commit him or herself for a long period of time to feel connected to them at its fullest. I have been truly blessed to have the chance to experience something so great. Many of us look at international volunteering as something so great in which one has to have much courage. Well, I look at it as a complete blessing because I am one of the few in the world who has a choice and the opportunity to experience something so life-giving. Many people in the world would love to experience what I experienced but cannot because of lack of education, not enough funds raised or because they simply have to put on a daily fight to bring beans and rice to the table for the family.
Working with adolescents helped me to be a little less selfish and to realize that life does not revolve around me, which has taught me to put others before me. It is not an easy lesson to learn and one in which once our eyes are opened, we have to deliberately make choices that put others first in order to not forget. The adolescents I worked with taught me to love so freely and to live happily with the little that we had. We spent so much time together getting to know each other appreciating each other’s presence without the distraction of so many modern technologies. It was made clear to me while In Honduras that it does not take much to be happy.
Now that I am back, I don’t have any specific plans as to what is next on my journey in life. I will take some time to reflect, be with my family and reconnect after a long time away.
I would highly recommend such experience to anyone and more specifically young people who have just graduated or has been graduated for a few years. It will be tough and it will be rewarding, I promise, you will not regret it.
I want to take this time to give my complete thanks to all the people who have supported me in any way, shape, or form. Thank you for your economic help, prayers and cards. Thank you for joining me on my journey. Please know that you were always in my prayers and will continue to be so. As I mentioned before, “Some go by giving and other give by going, without both, there would be no mission.”
God Bless,
Rafael Harrington |
