Impacted by the Cultural Excursion

So the day started out pretty nice, the weather was pretty and the air was a bit crisp- Which for Texas really means something. Our group of Multicultural Ambassadors departed around mid-morning and arrived at the Soup Kitchen fairly early. We began to work around noon and I had forgotten to eat lunch, and breakfast. The thing that struck me was, after working with my hands in that hall, I forgot I was hungry. In fact, I became extremely motivated to work at something far more important than myself. Many of the items donated to the soup kitchen had been in poor condition, some liquids had spilled, many of the packages of toys had come open, and bugs- yes, even roaches were prevalent. I didn't care a single bit, I didn't even wear gloves. I did my best to wrap up the toys in their boxes, and contain any food that was still in decent quality. 

What really struck me were the toys though, and I thought about my mother who also grew up by meager means. My mother grew up in a family of 7 children and she was the youngest. She would receive all of the hand-me-downs, this family's children would share a single piece of gum for weeks because they didn't have anything else. Every toy I touched I thought about my mother growing up in those conditions, and how happy she would of been if she would of had something like this, or even anything to play with. I felt so focused and determined to help families like that. I felt some strange connection to people I have never met and never will meet, and I'm glad they will never know I did something to help them. There's a certain innocence and even modesty to helping others without them ever knowing you did it. It's as though the deed was done from a place inside of heart that doesn't require something to be given back, like a certain place in the heart that was only meant to give. It's like stretching a muscle that needs to be stretched every once in a while, or taking in that deep breath of air- first step outside on a clear day. It felt good to work through hunger and sweat and even dirt to aid others. It was a privilege to go. 

~ Macklin, Multicultural Ambassador

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