"And to think I almost prevented it from happening …"
September 15, 2008.
When my daughter approached me about going to Poland to provide wishes for terminally ill children, my immediate answer was no.
We had heard about Coalition for Kids International, when a year earlier there was a picture and article in the newspaper and now she was coming home from school with more information about the program and she wanted to be part of it. I told her I was not going to give my consent, and I hoped she would forget about it. After all, she was just barely 15 and she had no experience working with or being around sick children. How would she deal with this a half a world away?
She would not forget about it and she had reasons for why she should go. She asked if I would just go to one meeting to find out more about the program. Although I agreed to this, I was certainly not planning to let her go to a far off land with people I did not know!
The meeting was very informative and I knew then that I had to let her go. If the trip was half as educational and beneficial as the organizers claimed, I could not hold her back. In a way I hoped that something would happen to prevent her from going, although I knew she would be disappointed. The time came when I took her to the airport and said our good-byes. She was so excited! She knew this was going to be her “trip for a lifetime”!
I went home that night and prepared myself for a long 10 days. However by 4 am the next morning, we had notification that she had arrived in London and everything was well. So far, so good. The next morning we again received notification that they had arrived in Poland and the girls were busy wrapping presents. We then began to receive detailed emails from the organizers about what they were doing. We also began to receive many, wonderful pictures of the girls interacting with the children they were visiting. We had a detailed schedule of the children they were meeting, yet the organizers let us know if they had to make any changes for the day. I almost felt as if I was part of the trip since I was seeing and hearing the accounts daily. I had several emails from my daughter and I could tell that she was having the time of her life.
My daughter is home now, but part of her is still in Poland. She loved everything about the trip. When asked what was the best part of the trip, she said after some thought, that it was being able to give presents to the children. I don’t know how this will affect the person she becomes, but it has opened her eyes to new cultures, people and new situations. What a fantastic experience and to think I almost prevented it from happening.
Coalition for Kids International provides an excellent opportunity for teenagers to help, interact with and learn from children of other cultures. Coalition for Kids also provides a safe environment for this exciting adventure to take place. I highly recommend this program.
