​​"A journey is more than simply change of location or more than  saying “good bye” to our known world and comfort zone for some time. When we realize and accept the wonderful and valuable things that we may experience, see and learn, we  introduce ourselves into the deepest side of a life being.

 

This is what I call “living”. I would never imagine myself having the opportunity to come to Africa as a volunteer in Hope Link Child. For me, being a citizen of Guatemala, the name “Africa”, or specifically  “Kenya” sounded like a very far and unreachable place to  see. My wish included  much more than spending time  with tourists or do “safaris” in safe places to see the Africa we see in specialized travel reviews. My biggest motivation was to see life from a different perspective and spend time with poor families and kids in this beautiful country.

 

My first discover amazed me. Few times in my life I have seen such humility of people, who showed me that the most important thing in life is to share and to be faithful. Many doors where open to me and many people have shared even what they don’t have for themselves. There, many families survive with less than 1 Euro per day, others have the possibility of eating just one meal per day and many others die of starvation of sicknesses; however, they have opened their doors to share. Living with a local family in conditions of poverty in this remote place, without water supply or electricity I felt alive and welcomed by hundreds of smiles of people from all ages.

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Through this volunteer  I have learned that authentic happiness does not depend on money or belongings.  Being there I found some answers of the questions about life I had in mind. I have discovered that it is much more valuable and inspiring to work and spend your energy in projects with a social sense and a direct positive impact in the life of people in harmony with the environment,  being the smile of  the people your best salary.

 

During this journey I have also learned about the importance of  living sustainable.  Many times we ignore,  or do not want to see, the negative impact  caused by what we consume. We have reached a point where most of the people see animals or plants as  a  simple product than a life being, and massively started its production without caring  the way and methods they are produced. We have thought that it is normal to feed animals with chemical products to faster their reproduction in order to feed a growing world population.  We have ignored the pollution generated by herbicides and pesticides and the adverse effects over the health of our environment  and human beings; or we have directly or indirectly supported the deforestation caused by  non-organic agricultural practices that  provokes an  impact on the global climate change we are experiencing today.

 

At the moment of starting this journey I did not know many things about life. Today, I take with me new and important knowledge, dreams and plans that will motivate the next steps in my life. Knowledge that I will transmit to people and dreams to become true in order to inspire others to travel in this journey called “life”... thanks Rusinga Community, all the beautiful kids, my family there and David, the project coordinator for this opportunity!.

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Ahmid Daccarett

ahmid.daccarett@googlemail.com