So in 2005 I was a sophomore in college and not feeling so great about my life. I was tired of thinking of my own problems and worrying about my image, boys, school, work, etc. When I was about 13 years old a girl from church came and gave a little fireside talk to all the youth about her trip to Ecuador to volunteer in orphanages. I remember thinking how I would love to do something like that, I'd always loved kids. Then my freshman year I had a roommate whose sister had done the same thing through OSSO (orphanage support services organization). So after a hard first year of college I decided to get out of my element and try doing some service. During Christmas break of my sophomore year I applied for OSSO. They called me a week or so later and asked if instead of staying for just 3 months , the amount I had signed up for, if I could stay for six and a half months. They needed someone with some spanish speaking ability to be a site coordinator which would mean I would be in charge of making the volunteer schedule, translating, and communicating with the heads of the orphanages. I thought about it for like a day or so and ran it by my parents and then called them back to say I would do it.
I left in May 2006 and was in Quito, Ecuador till November 2006. This was such an amazing time in my life. I still think back on it very fondly every day. Each day I was able to go into orphanages and have little kids run up to me, like I was their favorite person in the world, with open arms. Some people ask me if it was sad being there with kids who don't have parents. Honestly, it was at that time the happiest time of my life and those kids are some of the happiest most loving kids that I know.
The main orphanage we volunteered at was a baby orphanage for newborns to two and a half year olds. Each day 5 volunteers of the 12 were assigned a morning or afternoon shift there. We bathed the kids, dressed them, changed their diapers, played with them, and fed them. Some interesting facts about the orphange: the newborns were given formula but at about 6 months they were given "sopa" everyday 3 times a day till they left the orphanage at 2 and a half years old. The sopa was made of whatever vegetables someone happened to donate to the orphanage such as potatoes, carrots, or celery. The babies all wore cloth diapers which we learned to make. They do not have wipes so we use our hand with the babies bum under running water. (Sounds gross but you'll do some crazy stuff when you love somebody a lot).
Besides the baby orphanage we also worked with special needs orphans and other orphanages with older children. We planned activites, took the kids to the park and on field trips.
Each Friday was the volunteers day off and we were able to go on our own field trip. Field trips included waterfall repelling, white water rafting, the beach, the temple, visiting downtown Quito and its' cathedrals, etc. Then at the end of my time in Quito we went on a week long trip to the Amazon. So amazing!!!
I remember seeing other gr0ups of volunteers leave to go home. Every month and a half 6 volunteers leave and 6 new ones arrive. On their last shift at the orphanage they always cried and cried. On my last shift I watched in silence as all the girls I was leaving with hugged the babies goodbye and cried as they sang them one last lullaby goodnight. No tears. I remember wandering what was wrong with me as 5 girls surrounded me in the car ride home just bawling.
It didn't hit me till I was in the United States for a couple days. And then the realization crashed down on me. I would never see these kids again. I wouldn't be there to make sure they were safe, got their hugs and tickles, and were loved unconditionally (even if they did play in the toilet and soak themselves and 5 other little friends right after I had just got them ready for bed. I sat in bed and just sobbed and sobbed. I remember praying to have the hurt taken away. I had been walking around like a zombie and couldn't imagine spending the rest of my life like that. I still don't quite understand it but after crying and crying out for some time in an instant I felt a reassurance wash over me. A reassurance that my babies would be taken care of and that it was going to be okay. It was really like a weight from my heart was lifted and the fog in my mind had been blown away. That's when it clicked. I know that Jesus Christ didn't just suffer on the cross for our sins but also for our weaknesses, our sadness, our every hurt. So when we feel so down and like nothing can help, he CAN!!! He descended below all so that he would know how it feels and how to help us. We just have to ask! That's how I learned about the atonement of Jesus Christ and how it helps us in our weakness. There were other random times where the sadness would just hit me but it wasn't the incomprehensible sadness I had felt before. After a good sob, I felt relieved and I could keep on keepin on.
So the moral of this story is.... service is amazing, you think you are doing it for somebody else but you end up helping yourself. I would recommend OSSO to anyone. It really changed me, helped me love deeper and understand what real love is and helped me understand God's love for me. I realized that the love I felt for those children was too big to be coming from me, it was coming from a loving Heavenly Father who wanted to express it to his children so He used one of his other children to do so.
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