Jun 10, 2011


10JUN

David (Sleeper), Rodrigo, Epifanio, and David (Rojo) on the roof of the center before the party


    Today started off very relaxed and very quickly turned into celebration, fun, and a bit of chaos. There was nothing to do in the morning so we got to sleep in as long as we wanted. SCORE. After a relaxing morning of TV watching and sleeping in, we prepared to go decorate for Erika's quincenera. Erika was actually turning eighteen today but never had her Quincenera, so it was decided that we would celebrate it today. The Quincenera went very well as you can tell from all the wonderful pictures below. Now I have been here for a little over a week and I've come to realize a few things. The things I enjoy the most so far on this trip is building relationships with the kids. The point of this trip is to work, but there has been nothing more rewarding than seeing the smiles on the kid's faces. I'm even chatting with my new friend Cesar on facebook about the things he wants to do in his life, like become an Architect. But what is really crazy is how the kids can affect your life in such a short time. I'm sixteen years old and don't exactly have a wallet filled with tons of cash, but even still I want to start sponsoring one of the kids which is around $40 a month. To give you perspective, I get $60 a month for allowance (I need a job...) so I would be living through summer with $20 a month. But the fact that I'm helping these kids become future leaders of the community is more than rewarding. Before going on this trip, I would have spent that $40 on fast food and gatorade (It's great to be a teenager), but now I want to give that $40 for something way more than a few double cheeseburgers and a chipotle burrito. All in all, this trip has changed my life for the better, and I still have another week. I'm going to miss the kids, so much that there's no way I'm missing out on another trip here next year. I'll bring home a lot from this trip but most importantly I will live my life knowing that I was born luckily into a family with money, and I need to use this luck to help those in need.

- David (Rojo) Mackin