Each week we bring you the story and perspective of an outstanding volunteer. This week, meet Devki Patel, a Public Health Brigades volunteer from Rutgers University, who recently participated in Brigades to Honduras.
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I would have never thought that one week could have made such a big impact in my life. In that one week I learned so much about myself and others. My trip down to Honduras did nothing less than strengthen my thoughts and feelings of gratitude towards God, my family, towards other people, and towards this beautiful world that we live in. This trip opened my eyes and helped me realize how fortunate I am and how grateful I should be for all that I have. You see things on television, in magazines, but when you see it with your own eyes it really hits home and touches your heart. It makes you want to help make the world a better place and start off by changing your life, like Mahatma Gandhi says “Be the change that you wish to see in the world”.
We went down to Honduras with our main focus to change and better the infrastructure and educate the communities on hygiene practice; however, it was the small things that you think wouldn’t make a difference which made the greatest impacts. For instance, while driving through the beautiful country, up mountains and thru clouds, we would see people and simply smile at them, or wave, or say “hola” and instantly you would see a huge smile appear on their face.
The people down in Honduras, specifically the families we worked with, were so loving, grateful, happy, and full of “esperanza”, hope. They have nothing compared to us here in the States and yet they seem so much happier and worry free and grateful for all they have. This helped me put my life into perspective and helped me introspect more on my priorities. Then, there was the GB staff, which was always full of spirit; they made our experience in Honduras one that we will never forget. It’s amazing how we came from two completely different lives and had this language barrier between us but still were able to build such strong relationships.
The students we worked with from other schools were just as motivated and full of energy. We shared a similar goal which we came together to achieve. It’s absolutely amazing how one person can make a decision to do something so great, that collectively, as a group, we can change the world and bring it one step closer to becoming a greater place! I am so extremely grateful that I got this opportunity to take part in such a brigade. It’s really difficult to describe this experience in words and words will never do justice to the actual experience; you simply have to experience it yourself.
Overall, the week I spent down in Honduras was life changing. Each and every part of the brigade was a life learning experience. We dealt with challenges every step of the way but together, we learned to overcome them. Improving the infrastructure in the homes, promoting hygiene practices among the community members, drinking the delicious Honduran coffee prepared with selfless/ immense love, teaching the students in El Canton about the digestive system, playing soccer in the rain, having amazing conversations even with a language barrier, and building relationships with the community and GB staff, all memories that I will never forget. This brigade made me realize that this is something I want to do in my life; I want to make people smile and give back to this world.
