WORLD'S LEADING INTERNSHIP PROGRAM

Dreamer Challenge: Privilege

Only a life lived for others is a life worth while.
~Rigoberta Menchu

I just returned Guatemala in the beginning of the month. Four dedicated, compassionate, and hilarious alumni joined me as volunteers. We’ll be taking another volunteer trip there in August. If you’ve never been, I highly recommend it. It’s full of wonderful people, beautiful colors, majestic landscapes, and boisterous laughter. One thing it’s not full of, though, is privilege. The people are proud, hard working, resourceful and ambitious, but the vast majority of them lack the privileges that you and I have. 

In the village where we’ve been doing our volunteer work, none of the homes have water.  People have to walk to community faucets to fetch water in their buckets. They use that water to drink, cook, bathe, and wash dishes and clothing. For the past month, most of the faucets in the village have not been giving water regularly. In fact, some give none at all. Those that do provide water provide very little. The people are allowed to take two small containers per day per family until the rains come later in May.

Our goal in Ghana and Guatemala, as it is during our summer programs, is to inspire and equip people to pursue their dreams. The people we worked with this past week have what you may consider to be modest dreams: food, shoes, and education for their children, and steady work and a steady income for themselves. Knowing what those people face, though, I consider those dreams to be monumental. They have so many obstacles to overcome. Yet they are relentless in their pursuit. RELENTLESS!

When those dreams are realized and their basic needs are met, they will be able to move on to their next dreams. I can guarantee you of one thing. They will continue to look forward and fight tooth and nail for what they want for themselves and their families.

Wherever you are with your dreams, I know that there’s something you want. Big or small, there is something that you want to do or be or see or have or experience. Are you fighting tooth and nail to achieve it? Are you relentless in your pursuit of your dreams? Or are you settling for less than all that you want? Only you know the answer.