Memories in My Skin: My Mission's Trip

Memories in My Skin.

My mission’s trip

Nicaragua: a patchwork of societies rich and poor. When I was in grade 9 it was always my goal to venture to this beautiful country on my school’s mission trip and lucky for me, it became a reality once I hit grade 11. Never having done anything like this before, I truly did not know what to expect. I was the type of person who worried about everything and had never really been the adventurous type. I did know, however, that I wanted to make a difference in the world. So I left my comfort zone and journeyed to a land of uncertainty; I just never knew that it would become my second home. I didn’t realize how great an impact this journey would have on me but I am extremely thankful every day that it did. Otherwise I would not be the person that I am today.

I had so many new experiences there that still seem too good to be true. 29 of us worked and stayed at an orphanage, doing maintenance, farm work, building a sidewalk and teaching English. Some days we would have day trips to different villages and on our last day we went to the beach. We went zip lining and got to explore the Nicaraguan culture as well. Although these day trips were fun, we also got a taste of the poverty in Nicaragua. It makes you realize how lucky you are and that in retrospect our little everyday problems are quite insignificant compared to them. We had kids come up to us and beg for food and money which was devastating. It’s easy to forget that this is how people live when we don’t see it every day in Canada. But I was happy to at least make a difference in the lives of some kids, the kids of the orphanage. We would eat lunch with them almost every day and would hang out with them after they were done school. Going into this I thought that they would have been miserable in an orphanage but in reality they were happy, healthy and just one big family. It was impossible not to be happy when around these kids. Each kid was unique and no matter who you were they treated you like family. It was difficult to go home because I knew I would be missing these kids every day. But I’m ecstatic to say that I will be seeing them all quite soon once more; I’m counting down the days.  

What I got from this experience will stay with me forever. I wasn’t even back home for five minutes before telling my mom that I needed to go back. I believe that I am a very different person than who I was before I stepped onto the Nicaraguan soil. Being in a different country for two weeks doing charity work made me look at my own life and realize that I needed to make some changes; that was a big year for me. I truly found myself and realized what I wanted from life. Now, I feel outgoing, willing to take risks and not so judgmental. I made bonds with people that will last a lifetime and I even still keep in touch with them to this very day. It’s hard to explain an experience like the one I had. It was like I shed my skin or broke free from the chains holding me back from my true potential. Each day I feel freer than I ever have and like I actually made a difference in someone’s life.