SWA Peru Mission 2015: Guest Blog Post-Rhonda's Thoughts On Why We Did This Mission

One of the main reasons Randi and I wanted to go on this trip... Well maybe a better way to explain this is ... The main reason I was talked into this trip by Randi was her passionate proposal for giving to people less fortunate and exposing our teenage daughters to their culture and circumstances.... Oh and Manchu Picchu was on her bucket list ;) It all appealed a great deal to me. The uncertainties and unwarranted risks were out weighed by the inexplicable experiences we would share together... We found that this trip contributed more to our relationships to each other than our charitable acts did in the villages. We got to see a side of ourselves and our children that we are not all that familiar with living as we do in comfort and security ... The test of long days, ever changing situations, exposure to the different people, places, and ever changing faces left us feeling a variety of emotions ranging from gratitude to guilt. We would turn to each other more to commiserate in our reactions and new reality. From our highs of fitting children with new shoes to our lows of grasping how little our new Peruvian friends really had. Randi and I commented (as well as the rest of our group ) on how Mackenzie and Abbi were always the first to jump up and help. Never complained or tired but always contributing. Everything from painting the girls finger nails to working along side the locals. We began to look at them in ways that being at home in messy rooms and testy attitudes doesn't always allow. Randi and I not only loved our girls but really really liked the women they were becoming. It was gift that Peru gave us that would be hard to find anywhere else. Seeing them capable, independent and compassionate all of this with truly gifted sense of humor was something I wouldn't of missed for the world. Thank you Randi for not letting me put off a trip of lifetime 😊