Same Same but Different::

Something I wrote a few months ago.. Thought I could share it here..

For as long as I can remember I've wanted to be an explorer. A world traveler. A nomad, persay.

Parents always ask their children, "What do you want to be when you grow up?" And the normal response from a six year old is usually along the lines of veternarian, doctor, writer, etc. There are not many young kids who would say, "I just want to see the world." Well, you've found her, and that's exactly what I did.

Graduating college at 23, I still had the same aspiration to see the world as I did when I was six. So I saved up money and put myself on a plane. The destination is not exactly the most important, but it's what happened along the journey that makes the difference. I found myself drinking beer "Down Under" with the Ausi's and teaching English to orphans in Cambodia, and everything in between is a blur. Something unexpected happened along this two year journey, something that I find hard to put into words.

I've always known myself to be a girl with big dreams but somewhat lost and confused about life and the world in general. But something happened to me during my travels, especially my first adventure in a third world country. I found my heart. Looking back I can honestly say that I did not know that it was happening until it was over. I will never forget the day I stepped off the plane in the capital city of Cambodia, Phenom Penh, and felt like I had time traveled to another planet. Immediately, I noticed the juxtaposition between beauty and suffering. Everything around me was so different than my home, yet I had a certain connection with the people. Because they were people, just like me, with smiles as big as the moon and laughter that could fill a room in a second. They were petite in size but bursting with life. I suppose someone else stepping in to the same environment could look at their world and see the suffering, the corruption and the poverty. That is what anyone could see very easily, but the emotion of it all, the heart, the humanity, makes it just another beautiful place in this beautiful world.

Without any clue of what was going on I was escorted off the airport grounds only to find myself looking down a row a police guards with AK-47's hanging at their sides and cigarettes up at their mouths. A person's first reaction to this is fear. And that is exactly what I felt for a split second. Then I remembered a small piece of advice a friend had given me years before on my first visit to Australia. He said "When you are somewhere else, experiencing someone else's culture and in someone else's homeland, you must remember that it's not weird, it's just different."

It's not weird, it's just different. This is what I was supposed to be thinking? Before I had to time to react in any way one of the guards was at the side of the road flagging down a biker. A small man on a moped came over, took my heavy rucksack off my back and threw it onto his bike. Turning around he led me by the shoulders to the back of the bike, I hopped on and we were off! Driving through the city to the bus station was a life changing experience in itself. Everything is different! The poverty, dirt and smog are everywhere. But so are laughing faces, businesses and LIFE.

I spent the next two weeks in the Lighthouse Orphanage with the most wonderful group of children I have ever met in my life. Each one of them was a gem, an angel sent to show me the beauty of this world. They spoke English quite well but we spent everyday going over vocabulary and grammar. They were eager to learn, eager to play and eager to live. I'll never forget the day we left and each one of them had hand drawn me a picture signed with their names. I still keep those drawings as an inspiration to do good things in my life.

To serve humanity. To make this world a better place. To benefit the lives of others through education and love.

I've always said that there is a certain disconnect between seeing this kind of suffering on television, or reading about it in the newspaper and actually seeing it first hand. I truly believe that if everyone in the first world saw the poverty, suffering AND the hope and inspiration in the third world with their own eyes, this world would be a different place. There is no way to ignore how people live, or barely survive. We are all the same and my adventures overseas have taught me this. Everyone deserves a basic education. That way, we can start building the world from the ground up. Get down and dirty and beat poverty! Educate people and provide the basic resources to help their own communities. Together, we can make this world a better place! It is easier than we think and everyone deserves a chance.