This is just copypasta of the speech I wrote for another forum. Too tired to rewrite everything.
As I'm sure all of you know, I just returned from a two week humanitarian mission to Bolivia, a small country in South America. In my short time there, I have seen and done many things I never thought I would.
Some of the things were great. I saw jungles along the Amazon river teeming with life. I visited villages of people completely isolated from the outside world.
I traveled with Project: Helping Hands, the members of which were all kind, selfless individuals who gave and gave AND GAVE... without ever expecting anything in return. I met locals who do more work every day than most of us will in our entire lives.
I met a group of Bolivians traveling with us who aided, sheltered, fed, and idolized us... just because we cared about the people of their country.
We received no end of gratitude from the people we were able to help... But we couldn't help everybody...
I met children younger than I (still minors) who had to take care of their siblings because their parents had died working in order to feed their families.
I met people irreversibly crippled by diseases that we were all vaccinated for AT BIRTH.
I even watched as a woman under my care... died... and all I could do was make her last moments on Earth painless and peaceful. I merely bowed my head in silent respect for a woman who saw more hardship than I ever will.
And you know what? Her family... thanked me. They thanked me for letting her pass without suffering... and I simply burst into tears. Even now I'm finding it a bit hard to control my emotions... But it wasn't all bad. Not at all...
These people who we helped, the same people who I thought would never be able to repay us... They have given me more than I can thank them for. They gave me knowledge and experiences that I never would have obtained otherwise. They taught me how lucky I am to always have a bed to sleep in, a meal to eat, and family and friends to love; how lucky I am to not have to work day in and day out to feed my family. They've shown me what true hardship is, and I owe them so much.
Not just them, but Jeff and all of the members of Project: Helping Hands. Those selfless and truly benevolent people gave me an experience that I will never, in all my life, forget. I thank PHH for allowing me to accompany them, and I thank the people of Bolivia for showing me how to truly appreciate my privileged life.
To sum up this rather verbose digression, I would like to leave just one note on the minds of you, my friends, family, and colleagues: never forget just how truly gifted we are. You've heard this a thousand times, I know, but just keep this in mind--we all live the lives of royalty in the eyes of the third world. Never forget how lucky all of us are to have what we have. Thank you.
"When the day is through, you cannot say you've done a hard day's work until you've done something for someone for which they will never be able to repay you..." -- Unknown
Minor alterations were made.