Caitlin in Peru

This is an excerpt from Caitlin's letter to family and friends:

My Peru Experience was absolutely incredible. I never expected to learn so much about love and service in a short time. I learned from the examples of the sweet children at the orphanage what it truly means to love another and look out for each other. They have so little yet give so much. I learned a very special lesson from a young girl in the village of Tuscan, Peru. In this very poor village, we bathed the youngest children and gave them new clothes (many had never had a bath), and gave blankets to the older children. In particular, I noticed a young girl who watched with much excitement as her little sister was bathed and dressed in brand new clothes. We ran out of clean water and clothes before the older sister could be bathed and she was too young to receive a blanket. My heart ached for her and I imagined how disappointed she must have been to not get anything. To my amazement, she kept smiling and continued to hug and kiss her little sister. She was so thrilled and concerned for her sister's happiness that she didn't seem to mind that she received nothing for herself. I was so touched and I keep replaying that experience in my mind.

When I went to Peru I expected to work hard and get dirty (which I did) but I did not expect to be so inspired and humbled. I saw how first hand how little these people have and how hard they must work just to keep going each day. We were able to build a security tower for the orphanage, a farm house, and a school in Tuscan so the children don't have to walk 3 hrs. to school.

If you are interested in learning more about Southern Cross Humanitarian, or taking an expedition to El Girasol orphanage or would like to donate to their projects to improve the lives of street children in Peru, please visit http://www.sxhu.org/