The Gift of Service

PC makes a big deal out of site placements. They have all the small business volunteers sit together and give a long speech about how we are about to receive a gift, the gift of service. It actually was beautiful. We each received a large envelope with a smaller envelope and a large purple bow. Our names were written nicely on the small envelope. We all opened the small envelopes first and our aspiration statements. We read them silently and were told to reflect on whether our reasons for coming are still true. I have wanted to do this for 15 years so my reasons have only gotten stronger. We then all opened the large envelopes at the same time with our site assignments in booklets with a bunch of information. My site mate yelled out, “Oh My God!” as she opened her envelope. It was almost a knee jerk reaction for her. We all silently and slowly digested the limited information we had in our packets about our site.
I knew by the name of the region and my love of maps that my site was in the north. My packet highlighted the site size (small, about 2,000 people), the poverty of the people and the ruralness of the site. I was pretty much speechless the rest of the day. I have had to keep reminding myself that I signed up for the unknown. I didn’t choose Central America, Nicaragua, or Pio XII and so far I have been so happy. I have felt so content in my decision to be here and honestly grateful every morning to wake up here in what used to just be a dream I thought I might never be able to fulfill.