Mission: Make a Difference; Take a Difference

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In Tanzania Alone, about 1.6 million people are living with HIV/AIDS, and more than 1 million children have been orphaned by the fatal disease. Almost half the population is malnourished, and the mortality rate for woman alone is nearly 50%.

Ever since I could talk in full sentences, I have wanted to do something greater than just living for myself. Before I had the responsibilities of jobs and homework, I would sit down in front of the TV every Sunday morning to watch the World Vision shows that featured children in developing countries struggling to survive.

At the beginning of this year, I wanted to include in this blog my ambitions of going to Africa; that I wanted to give back to a world that has given me so much to be thankful for. And hopefully, I will do my part of that when I am there by volunteering my time with people who don’t have family and friends to spend the time with. But what I have learned over my last year of high school, is that I cannot go to Africa expecting to change those people’s lives, only to gain self-satisfaction of knowing I did the right thing. Because from my recent experiences, I am going to need to be prepared for the African people to change my life far more than I will change theirs.

Like most teenagers, after graduation I plan to travel before making the occupationally identifying trip to University. But I don’t want to just backpack through Europe; I want to have a completely life changing experience and come back a better person. I want to roam off the beaten track and come across a new and inspiring land rich in culture that is almost undiscovered by someone my age. I want to be able to come home with incredible stories and experiences no one else has even dreamed of doing.

Africa was always the first country on my list to travel to, and when I was given information on an organization called Cross Cultural Solutions from a student in High River traveling with them, I immediately jumped on the computer and typed in the homepage. Looking up the CCS website turned out to be the best choice I could’ve made.

This year my high school offered an amazing opportunity for a select number of students. It was to travel to Costa Rica and volunteer their time at an orphanage while helping out the local church in the drug-ridden community of Cristo Rey.

I went down to Costa Rica in the very mindset I have learned to never have again. Of course, I was hoping I could help the people; that I could give back my time to children and adults in need. In the physical sense I did, and I certainly know that our presence made them happier and more hopeful. The funny thing, however, was that the people there were so opulent in their culture and religion, that they gave me lessons and things of far more value than I could have ever hoped to pass on to them. See, where we have wealth, they have riches. And that makes me envy them, not the other way around.

While it was the most powerful, eye-opening experience of my life, it also made me not want to come home after only ten days. Going to Costa Rica merely heightened my sense of excitement in the anticipation of what more I can do and experience in a land that has a completely different culture and religion than we have here.



Kirianna Crowe

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