“Everything that I learned on this trip will stay with me for the rest of my life”
My trip with Coalition for Kids took me more places than I ever expected - emotionally and physically.
Physically it took me to Europe; first England then Poland, then England again. It gave me a better understanding of other cultures and life outside of Canada. This trip also brought us on quite the adventure after ZOOM went bankrupt and we got stuck in the UK! In a way, I was glad, I didn’t want the trip to end, it felt so right being there.
Auschwitz was very emotional and educational – reading about it is one thing, being there is another… There was so much to take in. It was overpowering when you stopped and thought and realized that you were in a concentration camp where, 65-70 years ago 1,5 million people died in.
Emotionally this trip took me all over the map. I experienced emotions and learned more lessons than I thought possible. We visited 13 children at their homes and a hospital. The illnesses there children had varied but they all had one thing in common, their smiles and their laughter. Each of the children I saw was terminally-ill and yet they never frowned, cried or complained. They all lived each day to its fullest. It made me realize that you don’t choose your life, so you have to make the best out of what you have, and always look on the bright side.
These kids also taught me the power of love and attachment. Some of the kids I met I only knew for an hour and yet I felt really attached to them and when I had to leave, it was almost as if I was leaving a piece of my heart with them.
Everything that I learned on this trip will stay with me for the rest of my life, this trip is really a Journey for a Lifetime.
