What A Wonderful World

“I see friends shaking hands, sayin’ how do you do? They’re really sayin’ I love you.” -Louis Armstrong “What A Wonderful World”. All I thought about was the smiling faces in Tanzania of 2016, how they all portrayed what love really means. Not coming from much but definitely showcasing what deep human connection is. Are we helping them or are they helping us…It’s all brought to ourselves in our schools, our communities, our society. Do we really truly believe in this “wonderful world”? The more cliche something becomes to us, the more we have to realize that it’s true so yes, to be honest beauty is on the inside and matters more than what the outside looks like. We’re so caught up in looking our best, receiving the compliments, having a higher self-esteem but we must begin being less superficial in relationships, and how we spend our time, and our priorities. We bring ourselves down, each other down. We call ourselves trash, ugly, not worth it, dumb, stupid, unintelligent. Why? What is there that we are so unhappy with? Where do we choose to be grateful. Where do we choose to think about the others around us and not just our families, but our friends, classmates, neighbors, strangers. Where? There is beauty in every person, and in all we see with our naked eye. “So nice to be reminded that it is, indeed, a beautiful and loving world that we exist in.” -Anonymous

The words that leave you to stick with the person you are talking to. “People will forget what you said, but they will never forget how you made them feel.” -Maya Angelou Authenticity of not just ourselves but of our word, our actions, I praise to be one that will carry good in their soul. You can have the “extra”, the stuff that you realize you have to be grateful for. Thinking of our next time with our friends at school, our job, our college, our times tieing becoming one with our personality. Because when you meet someone in a third world country, their hands in yours looking up at you, a smile radiating, they touch your hair, and tug slightly on your shirt just for the satisfaction of your attention. Cambodia, from a spine-chilling past of the Killing fields, Khmer Rouge, the Angkor Empire, to a country full of bustling crowds filling your ears with the music of their language. The Angkor’s highest times of power were in the 11th to 13th century. These were the Angkor or Khmer Rouge. Three million people killed due to genocide… lives of children, women, men.

Cambodia is an empowering country their history has never stopped them from continuing, from fighting for what is their right. I have longed for this trip because of the opportunity to challenge myself. Fundraising for this trip has been awesome, I have managed to raise a little over half of the $2500 due, to go on this priceless journey. From babysitting to working at the Everything Store. I am so ecstatic to be able to continue with this organization that gives me the chance to love others and get to know different people’s stories. “To be free of your doubts, to learn about purpose and never regret a thing, to be able to say, I lived my life to the fullest.” -Gabriela Fuentes, 14.