"It felt like I've been here before," said my daughter Kalyna as we boarded our bus, which was parked on a muddy, unpaved road. "Then I suddenly realized that I haven't been to a shantytown before. This is my first time! All your pictures from your trips made it seem like I've been to one before."



And that was my plan all along. Not everyone can visit distant lands or have the opportunity to see how all too many of the world's population live. But I've had that chance, and I've brought back pictures that make my friends and family think twice before complaining about some unfilled "need" for, say, designer clothing.



    my daughter Kalyna

Seeing for yourself is even better than looking at pictures. Thus a little over a year ago, Kalyna and I brought in the New Year in Honduras, one of the poorest and least developed countries in Latin America where nearly two-thirds of the population lives in poverty. We were there on a youth mission trip with Global Expeditions. About 65 of us spent our Christmas vacation visiting orphanages, playing with children, hugging and holding them, teaching and presenting skits, showing them the love of Christ, and giving away toys.

This stop at the shantytown was part of our agenda. Situated in the luscious, green Honduran countryside among dramatic mountains, these small shacks were pieced together out of corrugated metal, wood, sheets of plastic, and lots of cardboard - whatever materials these people could gather. Colorful laundry hung out to dry. Children played with sticks in puddles. Although the sight of such poverty was overwhelming and somewhat intimidating at first, we quickly found the residents open and friendly - much friendlier than wealthier counterparts often are.




 


"I was a little shocked at first. I didn't know what to expect," said Anna, one of the teens on the trip. We walked among the shanties inviting children to come to our bus so we could drive them to a church building where we had activities planned for them. The bus quickly filled with excited children, most of who do not go to school. About a quarter of them were barefooted.




 
    skit presentation 

"It was blessing to be there," Anna went on. "And I realized how fortunate I am."

Indeed, most of us take for granted the things that we have.

After our skits and songs and games, we drove the children back home in our packed school bus. Then we visited some of the houses. Some of the youth were even invited into a shanty to learn to make tortillas.



"This was a complete eye opener," shared Stephanie, another teenager. "I've never been to a place like this before. It was incredible!"

This kind of experience stays with you. And having photos of it lets me remember and share it for years to come.

The worst sin toward our fellow creatures is not to hate them, but to be indifferent to them. That's the essence of inhumanity.

     -- George Bernard Shaw
 

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