Work With the Poor

 

My Outreach Experience

 

 

Arrival.  When I first stepped foot on the concrete below me, the stench of polluted water went inside my nose.  Being as respectful as we could be, our class just held our breaths and continued to walk through.  When we got to the village, a thought came in my mind:  is this the government’s answer to poverty?  Do they think people here are happy with their current situation?

 

Only to realize that I was wrong.  When we introduced to our families, I was very wrong of what I have thought earlier.  No, not wrong in the first question, rather in my second question.  They are very happy.  They are very happy with their lives, content with their houses and material things.  It made me realize this…

 

They are lucky ones!  They are the rich ones! We might be considered “lucky” with our material possessions, education, house and the like but if we’re going to look through our lives; we are not content with what we have.  The discontentment that we have leads to our sadness, greed and depression.  We desire and long for more money and things.  We constantly think about our desire that we tend to forget what is really important in our lives.  We tend to forget the irreplaceable treasures in our hearts.  Whereas the people in the village are always happy, they have smiles in their faces and you could really feel the love and hospitality that they’re trying to give you.  You could see that in the simple karaoke get-togethers, cards with friends or even cooking with their family, they are very happy with what they have in life.

 

As everyone knows, the soul is much more important than the body itself.  We, the so-called “lucky ones” are the ones who are poor in the soul.  We give so much priority to the earthly riches that we forget about God’s word.  We forget about our real goal in life.  To reach Heaven is our goal, not to be the richest person in the world.  How do we reach heaven?  By living a life of virtue, using Jesus’ life as a guide and a pathway to our goal.  We should think again of which things are the permanent ones, and which are the temporary ones in our lives. 

 

How did I learn these experiences?  Well, through the simple activities that we have done with our foster parents, siblings and neighbors.  We cooked food together, we shared it with the neighbors, we sang karaoke (even if we were off-pitched), we played with the kids, and we talked about our emotions and some stories about our families.  These simple tasks given to us made me learn this much.  And all of them are centered at the most important value of all:  Love.  Without love, we are nothing.  Without love, no one will even care to know each other.  No one will accomplish what he or she has started for there is no passion in work.  No one will care about his or her existence.  No one will care about anything.

 

I believe that love is in the center of everything.  It is the center of all human actions, emotions and virtues.  Without love, these other virtues and characteristics won’t even be possible.  Without love, there is no initiative of doing anything.  No one will really care whether he or she is doing right or wrong.

 

Without love, I couldn’t have done this activity.  I couldn’t have had the heart to put myself outside my comfort zone and experience life outside my comfortable house.  Without love, I wouldn’t have the initiative or the mind to write this paper of mine. 

 

So if you’re going to ask me what I have learned in this experience, I would say that I learned more about love. I learned more about what I should really aim for and what I should really prioritize in my life.  I learned that we should be contented with what we have, not burying ourselves into deep stress in order to get something that we really want.

 

Love can really change our hearts, ways and minds.  And I can truly say that I am one of those affected by this simple virtue given by God.

 

 

 

Mia Patricia Pascual Santos

Freshmen D

 

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Beryl Tan Reflection - DLSZ Student