A note I got from one of my barangs after going back to Ran's family: :)
This was my most special day of the trip and I appreciate your help making it possible for me to find a way back to put a smile on that woman’s face.
And my UNION team barangs continue to warm my heart with some of the messages they send me from time to time a few months after the trip:
It was the best 3 weeks I have ever experienced.
Going on the union trip has inspired me to start living life more.
I realize this morning the ways my UNION experience has changed my views - I think it was the spark that helped me realize how much more I want out of this life. When I'm wishing my time away 2 weeks at a time when poor people of the world can just pray that tomorrow comes. And how its going to be .. Today I'm starting a new outlook and focusing more on breaking out of this cycle. I was sad but happy that I have the opportunity to be more this morning.
Newsletter = awesome. I plan to put up 5 posters already haha.. Two gyms, work, my bike shop and local outfitters .. Woot UNION ROCKS .. I will do this with pride!
[On giving water filters to Cambodian families in the name of friends and family as Christmas gifts]. I feel this is a great gift. I’m glad I can give to these people whenever and however I wish.. HOPE makes helping others easy .. I’m so proud to have been able to be even a little part of the big picture! I’m soo excited to give my cards [from HOPE about the water filters] as gifts this year.
Among many more :)
I was very thankful for these fun, crazy, and awesome people on my first (and thanks to them, not last ;) ) UNION team and it's been a blessing to journey with them through Cambodia and to some extent, still through life back in Canada.
HOPE’s UNION Program is really just what it stands for – Understanding Needs In Other Nations. Understanding human needs is the first step to meeting them (Adlai Stephenson’s words of wisdom, not mine).. and through all our various adventures and escapades through the Cambodian countryside, the Cambodia UNION team understood not only with their heads, but with their hearts. And they were moved to act and take the initiative to do it.
Initiative to see, to learn, to care and to act… will go a long way.
Poverty and human need is not so difficult to understand… yes the reasons and causes for poverty can be complex… but understanding some of the basic and simple needs that we can respond to – effectively – are not so hard. It might be more a choosing to open our eyes to see and allowing our hearts understand. And then choosing to take the initiative to respond… that will make all the difference. Maybe not for every single person in need, but it mattered to Ran and her family, and it always matters to that one.
* * *
Well, that is officially the end of the Chronicles of Team Barangutang’s adventures in Cambodia. There are many more stories untold that you can hear from me in person one of these days… - OR - maybe… experience for yourself next year!!
Find out more on HOPE's website at www.hope-international.com/union
- Or - see my latest UNION newsletter… and if you want, sign up your email for updates to hear about the opportunities coming up.
- Or - best yet, just talk to me sometime! :)
You can follow up my next adventure.. coming soon-ish at www.rainbow-in-ethiopia.blogspot.com.
So... is "The End" of this Cambodia 2010 blog (and actually finished -just barely- in 2010, imagine that!)... BUT the story of these 4 barangutangs, and the story of Ran and her family, and the stories of all the other families and kids that we had the chance to briefly be a part of.. are still being written.
We'll see what comes of these stories in 2011. :)
Thanks for sharing these adventures with me in blog-form.. and best wishes for you in the coming year!
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
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