Self-designed Honors Experience to Bogotá, Colombia, July 2013
This year I was lucky enough to go on a trip to Bogotá to the orphanage Hogares Luz Y Vida to help out and give as much love as I could to the many physically and mentally disabled children living there.
At times it was challenging to overcome the barrier that disabilities create, but with the sweetness and pure happiness of the children to see you and play with you and show you their favorite things, it really didn’t take long at all. I learned how to put aside my personal issues of the day and give in completely to the children and what they were feeling in the moment. I learned to trust that holding a child that doesn't get quite enough attention is as life changing as medical attention can be. That was one of my biggest lessons, and one that I will continue to cherish, however I want to use that to see if going on a medical mission where there is more hands-on work of health issues would be more my style. Regardless though it was a wonderful learning experience that I am very grateful to have been able to have and have caught the glimpse of what the other side of adoption looks like.
I found out about this opportunity because my neighbor and his wife would go each year during the early spring, and I’d love to hear their stories upon their return. They began this as a mission trip experience with the Vineyard Cincinnati after finding out about the orphanage about eight years ago after adopting two children of their own from another orphanage in Bogotá. This year I was able to join and it was a fabulous experience, which I hope other UC students will be interested in going on as well.
As Sister Valeriana, who owns the orphanage says, “we are able to feed and take care of the kids, we need you to hold them and give them love.” We visited the orphanage each day, and also were able to go to the farm facility in the countryside, which is absolutely stunning.
This slideshow is just a sneak peak at some of the smiles and experiences I was able to capture, but I hope it inspires other students to visit or do something similar.
Life, love, and laughter - what priceless gifts to give our children.
-- Phylis Campbell Dryden
At times it was challenging to overcome the barrier that disabilities create, but with the sweetness and pure happiness of the children to see you and play with you and show you their favorite things, it really didn’t take long at all. I learned how to put aside my personal issues of the day and give in completely to the children and what they were feeling in the moment. I learned to trust that holding a child that doesn't get quite enough attention is as life changing as medical attention can be. That was one of my biggest lessons, and one that I will continue to cherish, however I want to use that to see if going on a medical mission where there is more hands-on work of health issues would be more my style. Regardless though it was a wonderful learning experience that I am very grateful to have been able to have and have caught the glimpse of what the other side of adoption looks like.
I found out about this opportunity because my neighbor and his wife would go each year during the early spring, and I’d love to hear their stories upon their return. They began this as a mission trip experience with the Vineyard Cincinnati after finding out about the orphanage about eight years ago after adopting two children of their own from another orphanage in Bogotá. This year I was able to join and it was a fabulous experience, which I hope other UC students will be interested in going on as well.
As Sister Valeriana, who owns the orphanage says, “we are able to feed and take care of the kids, we need you to hold them and give them love.” We visited the orphanage each day, and also were able to go to the farm facility in the countryside, which is absolutely stunning.
This slideshow is just a sneak peak at some of the smiles and experiences I was able to capture, but I hope it inspires other students to visit or do something similar.
Life, love, and laughter - what priceless gifts to give our children.
-- Phylis Campbell Dryden
I shot what was new to me from the culture, the people, and the environment as a documentation of my learning; to share and to reflect upon, both while I was still there, for the future. The slideshow is in mostly chronological order, so it shows my journey almost as I took it, and you get to see what I learned as I learned - my intention was use photography to keep record of how the experience went. I took pictures of the orphanage to show others what it was like, and I tried to capture what was most beautiful in the children and the positive things I learned and gained from them - their patience, their smiles, their friendship, to me and towards one another.