Appreciation

This is the front of our hotel. Its a beautiful hotel with lots of green plants and trees. Everyone makes sure you are happy and have everything you need. The hotel is gated and there are security guards at every entrance. It makes you feel safe and at times you forget where you are. The picture below is a couple of steps outside the gate.



It's a completely different world that is heartbreaking. We walked just down the street to a couple of shops. Along the way, there was a young boy who followed us asking for money. He didn't speak English but just kept saying "Ma'am, please." At the corner there was a group of children playing in the shade of a small, thin tree. They were sitting in the dirt with torn, dirty clothes. Sitting at a stoplight on the drive to the office, a boy came up to the window holding a monkey asking for money. At the next stoplight, a woman carrying a baby knocks on the car window. In a field, there are tents and shacks set up in every available space.

I haven't been here long but its definitely an eye-opening experience and makes me appreciate everything that I have. I don't have to worry about having a roof over my head, a meal on the table, clothes on my back. Before I left they told me I would feel this way. I knew it would be tough to see all the poverty but didn't think it would be this tough.