Final Thoughts by Sophia Del Signore

It seems impossible to be able to fully summarize or reflect upon any experience that impacts you so deeply.  What can be said to help one feel what you felt?  What can be mentioned to allow insight into the life changing experience? My time serving at Eagle’s Nest Orphanage has significantly impacted my everyday life. My world views, opinions, prior convictions--many have been brought to my attention for editing and review. I think of the children daily. What their pasts have been like, what their futures will be like. What the world holds for them. What opportunities they may encounter. Serving at Eagle’s Nest has motivated and prompted me to not only be interested in helping out in my own community, but also respecting and being more interested in others who are serving in theirs. I have also learned what it really means to love your fellow man. To put others needs before your own, and to just care genuinely for another human being. The children at the orphanage, at first glance, would appear to have nothing to give to you. Nothing to learn from. But those children gave me more and taught me more than I ever dreamed possible. We didn’t speak the same language, but we felt the same emotions.  They were so understanding, so willing to open their hearts and let us in. Guatemala has prompted me to treat the people around me differently. To love my family a little deeper, to spend a little bit more time with my younger siblings, to say “I love you” more often to the people who matter to me. I feel so much more thankful for the home I have, the country I live in, the safety I experience on a daily basis. This trip, overall, has taught me simply that there is much work to be done in the world. There are many people to love. And we--each and every one of us, one person at a time, can love a little more, show a little more gratitude, and make a significant difference in someone’se life.