From Boston to Texas

Alternative Spring Break-El Paso, Texas

My first time on the other side of the Mississippi and boy was it fun…and rewarding. I don’t say this flippantly either. I went down to Texas to gain a new sense of what poverty and social need is like in other parts of the country. Working closely with the homeless community of Boston I see the hunger and the poverty and the need for assistance every day. When I was given the chance to travel to a state that is for one: nothing like the Northeast and two: in great need of people willing to help; I immediately jumped at the chance. Getting to know everyone on the trip was great, phenomenal even, but, I couldn’t have asked for a better reason to go than to witness first hand the appreciation that we saw in the eyes of the local children who live in Habitat houses. Being able to help out another family just like their’s was an entirely out-of-body experience. The life we have in Boston is far greater than the life they lead down there but what is remarkable is that the appreciation they carry in their hearts and their eyes is outstanding.

I watched Hector and little Matilda give their presentation on how their mom is disabled and was given the opportunity to own a Habitat house where the two of them could grow up safely and couldn’t help but shed more than a tear. To think even for a second that any of us have it that bad is sad.