Let the Journey Begin

Cambodia. It was a hope. It was a dream. And now it is reality.

Thursday October 23^rd. That was the day. And at 8:13 I knew that I was finally going. That moment was something that I wouldn’t trade for the world. All the fear and nervousness that had been pent up inside of me was replaced with sheer joy. Tanzania changed my life. The biggest lessons I learned in Tanzania were about love. I learned that all actions I make should be performed not out of hate, envy, jealously, or greed, but love. I learned that the right way to love is to love first and let everything else follow. I learned that loving yourself is equally as important as loving others. Love is something everybody has, everybody needs, but the true gift of love is simply to love.

Hi, my name is Sarah Cotton. I am 15 years old and attend Battle Mountain High School in Vail, Colorado. In June 2015 I am travelling to Cambodia on a service trip with Children's Global Alliance, a 501(C)3 non-profit program based in Vail, Colorado. The organization was created in 2010 to fill the void of large-scale volunteer experiences for teenagers, like me. The objective of CGA is to offer service-learning opportunities for students from the United States to some of the world's most poverty stricken countries. In Cambodia my team and I will be working at the Cooperation of Peace Organization in order to improve the living conditions of the children and staff by repairing buildings, picking up trash, cleaning, and gardening.

“The meaning of life is to find your gift, but the purpose of life is to give it away.” ~Pablo Picasso

'Til Next Time

                Overwhelming. That is how I still describe Tanzania, even after two weeks of being here. Every time I  start to grow accustomed to the life here, I am thrown another curveball. Tanzania is so different from American culture, but I love every single part of it. I will miss everything about Tanzania. The things I’ve smelled, the food I’ve eaten, the sights I’ve seen, and most importantly the people I’ve met. Throughout this trip I have noticed 3 major themes: respect, discipline, and love.

                Respect. To get respect you need to give it first. That is one of the biggest lessons I have learned here. This entire trip I have been trying to earn other’s  respect. The hardest people for me to earn respect from was the kids. At the school, it took a day, but for the sports camp it took the entire week. Up to our last day, all of the kids had not yet fully respected us.  After 5 days, I couldn’t figure out why some of the kids would still not listen, but then it dawned on me. In order to receive respect, I needed to be giving it constantly to the kids, even when they misbehaved. Instead of getting frustrated with the kids when they were not listening, I started to be more understanding, since I know that there are reasons behind all of their actions. This philosophy is one that I wish I knew sooner, but overall I am just happy that I finally realized it.

                Discipline. This is another theme that occurred during the trip. The person who I had to discipline the most throughout the trip was myself. I had to constantly remind myself to not give up on something, just because it did not work the first time.  During this trip, I realized that self-discipline is one of the most important strengths to have because you are your hardest critic. The more you improve from your critiques, the better you will become.

Love. We say it about objects of every size shape, and color, but we often forget to say it to the most important thing of all, each other. Love has been a subject in almost all of my blogs because it is everywhere here. From stepping outside of the airport to saying goodbye to the kids, there have been so many examples of love. I have not only received love, but I have also given my heart out to everyone here. To be loved is one thing, and to receive love is another… But to have both gives you the power to do anything and everything.

Sports Camp

                This week we started the Sports Program. We set up four stations and have 2-3 of us working at each one of these stations. The stations are dance, gymnastics, boot camp, and soccer. The dance station is having the kids learn basic movements in variety types of dance and rhythm games. The gymnastics group is focusing on tumbling and is integrating some yoga. Boot Camp consists of a variety of activities including running, jumping and throwing. Soccer is focusing on dribbling, passing, shooting and small sided games.

Ava and I are in charge of the soccer station. Throughout the week each day has improved more than the last. It was amazing to watch the kids play. They had so much skill for their age, and some of the older ones were better than I am.

Driving up to the Massai campground I was excited to see how the day would go. As Ava and I were setting up for the day, she had an ingenious idea. So 1 clothes line, 1 mosquito net, 4 rocks, and a dozen bobby pins later was a soccer goal. We did drills very similar to the ones that Ava and I do in our own practices. We started off with 50-touches, a shorter version of our warm-up, FIFA, and some passing drills. The kids were all at various levels of playing in the groups, so at times it was challenging to keep them all engaged. However, at the end day I felt so accomplished. Not because the kids were perfect, but because the kids had fun.

On Wednesday I realized just how much I loved the kids. Seeing Emmanuel and Kelvin walk through the gate in the morning my heart warmed up and my mouth turned into an immediate smile. For these past two days I have been fueled with love. Today and yesterday I was constantly reminded why I am in Tanzania. It is not to be a teacher, coach, or a babysitter; it is to unconditionally love each and every one of the kids. Every day a piece of my heart has been stolen by someone new. It has changed from a lady in the market, to a little baby girl with the chubbiest cheeks, to a boy whose smile melts my heart a little every time I see it. Tanzania is full of love and since every person here shares it with one another it keeps on growing. 

It's a Whole New World

Yesterday, was our last day at the LOAMO School, and even though saying goodbye was heart wrenching, there is always more love than there is pain. The morning started off great with a Spanish lesson. It was incredible to see how quickly the kids were picking up the language. We played “Around the World” in order to have interactive practice with Spanish. Meek, who was one of the boys in my class, picked up Spanish so quickly that I started to run out of questions to ask him as he steadily progressed around the room very close to making it “Around the World” on his very first try. The next subject we moved onto was spelling. I made 2 teams and had one person from each team come up to the white board, and whoever could spell the word faster won a point for their team. Although the words were challenging for them, they were able to sound them out and get the word correct.

It is incredible to feel that after only two days at the school we were able to leave an impact on not only the kids and teacher’s hearts, but they were able to leave an even bigger one on our own. Although I was the teacher in my class, I felt as though I learned the biggest lessons. I learned that often the most intelligent kids are the ones who act as though they do not care about their education, I learned that no matter where in the world you are you will find that best friends will always be tied to each other’s sides, and that the people and places with nothing are usually the ones who have everything.

Today we went to the Save Africa Orphanage. For the majority part of the trip we were cleaning out the orphanage which was much needed. Schariar, Ava and I started out cleaning the bathroom which was coated in mud. We used my limited supply of baby wipes using every one until it spread more dirt than it did soap. Our next major job was to organize a washroom in the girl’s room which had been converted into a storage room. The first time I stepped into the room I could barely move around, it seemed impossible to move what appeared to be as 1,000 pieces of clothing along with other miscellaneous objects out of that tiny room. Finally, after moving bag after bag of clothing out of the washroom into the bedroom, it was time to organize. We moved clothing that was not in a bag into less damaged ones, which required a considerable amount of creativity considering we had no trash bags of our own. Once the rest of the supplies had been organized, we began to put the supplies back into the bathroom until we realized that the floor which we previously thought was dirt was actually tile. So we got a broom out and began to sweep. Once the floor was cleaned we positioned all the donations into a neater arrangement. We were then left with the satisfying feeling of accomplishment, hoping that the supplies that used to be tremendously unorganized could now be used at the orphanage, and that the kids may have a fresh set of clothes to wear in the future. After picking up trash around the Orphanage we received an opportunity to play with the kids.

            As I walked out of the door a little girl, named Rose, ran up to me. She had her little arms stretched out as high as she could, so I swooped her up and did the same thing. With little Rose up in the air high above me I saw her little eyes light up with glee as she threw her head up and looked into the bright blue sky. As I put her down her smile which lit her up head to toe set a fire in my heart. As she ran away to her little friends I turned around and joined in with a group of little boys who were playing soccer. It was astonishing to see all the tricks they were able to do with a soccer ball. Of course, they were better than me, and to them it was hilarious to see a mazungu who was twice their size not be able to play as well as them.

            Hearing all these stories about the lives of some of the kids in Tanzania has made me realize how lucky I am to live in America. However, at the same time I feel as though the Tanzanians are the lucky ones. Everyone in Tanzania is so full of everything that Americans are lacking. All their actions are chosen through love, not hate, not envy, not anger, not jealousy, not greed, but love. These last couple days that we have been here have been so life changing, and eye opening and I am so excited to see what the rest of the trip will bring. 

It's All About Love

Overwhelming. That is how I would describe Tanzania. All the smells, foods, and emotions that have been felt in this short period of time is immensely overpowering, but I love all of them. Flying in we see the peak of Mount Kilimanjaro protruding through the clouds which formed a breathtaking sight. Once we land and walk out of the airport we are greeted by Lisa Marie, Krissy, and some of the staff of the KATZ Guest House where we are residing. The KATZ staff greeted us with what seemed to be more smiles and handshakes than I have received in the past year. We had been in Tanzania for less than an hour and I already have felt such a tremendous amount of love and joy by these wonderful people.

On the 30^th we went to a museum, the Maasai and African Markets, and the Cultural Heritage Gallery. My favorite location of the four was the Maasai Market. The market was incredible. The vendors would do everything they could to get you to buy their products. As I was walking through the stalls I am constantly saying,”Hapana, asante,” meaning no thank you. When I said this to one vendor he said, “Hapana, asante. That is my name, so you must come into my booth.” My most memorable part of our tour day was when I was looking to purchase a bracelet. As I was looking through them trying to find the perfect one, the lady who was running the booth put one of the bracelets on my wrist. I ended up buying a different one, and as I went to take the first one off she said, “No you keep because you are my rafiki (friend).” This gesture opened me up to how even though the majority of the people in Tanzania have close to nothing, yet they are still willing to give what they have for simply being a friend.

Today was our first day at the LAOMO School. As we got out of the van all the kids were looking at us, waving, and smiling. Makena, Camryn and I were walking to our classrooms, when we ran into a group of girls. They all welcomed us with open arms. The girls asked for our names and when I said, “Sarah.” One of girls shrieked. She ran up to me and said, “Me, my name Sarah too.” The morning assembly was one of the most adorable things that I have ever seen. They all stomped, clapped, turned, and danced in unison. They sang songs and prayed to God thanking him for everything they had received. Then off they went, one by one, marching in sync to their classrooms until all 268 of them were gone. As soon as I stepped into the class I was greeted by the kids smiling faces. There was not a teacher in the class, so I was left in charge. I gradually grew more comfortable around the kids and by tea time I felt like I had already known the kids for weeks. One of my favorite things about Class 6 was how when I said, “Class 6 take a seat!” They would all in harmony sing, “Take a seat, take a seat, take a load off your feet, what, what!” I loved it. Out of all the activities and games they did; their absolute favorite game was Wax Museum. They would all go crazy when the guard’s back was turned, but the second he went to face them they would all freeze. The student and teacher interactions that I experienced at the school were like no other I had seen. The students would be constantly questioning and correcting the teacher, however the students had an undeniable amount of respect for him.

I love how in Tanzania they have an unending supply of love built inside their soul, and no matter who you are or where you have come from they will share their love with you. This has been so eye-opening to me because it is so different. Here you are brother or sister, son or daughter, or mama or papa no matter who you are. To me, Tanzania has the best sense of love. They love first and get to know you second, and I can only wish that America could start to evolve into a similar culture.