THANKYOU, BEAUTIFUL

Monday, we heard from Courtney as a big group and she talked about this week was going to look different. We, as global leaders, would be going into the community and help them yes, but more than that just learn about their lives. This invigorated me, because if you know me, I love people. I love learning people’s backgrounds and I love learning about people’s day-to-day lives. I liked this method of service, because it in a way took pressure off me and a sort of “mission,” and it let me focus on love.

My group of five consisted of Brooks, Melissa, Chase, Sarah and myself. Our host mom was Miss. Anna, and we have had the privilege of cooking for her and her family and spending time with them. The first day, we got there and I immediately sat on the concrete floor and 4 small girls came and took out my rubberband and started brushing my hair. Miss. Anna and the rest of her family knew little English so it was a blessing to have long-ish hair. You can brush hair and model hair-dos in any language. One of the girls, fashioned me with a very high ponytail, to which I responded, “thank you, it looks beautiful.” That was our connection. Suddenly, all the girls started screaming “THANKYOU, BEAUTIFUL… THANKYOU BEAUTIFUL.” This was something that we could all relate too. I began to try to explain to them that they were beautiful, because they were- stunningly beautiful.

Dinner was great, and as we were running back to the bus in the pouring rain, I started thinking. This felt so natural. I felt so alive, in this township. I didn’t feel like I was imposing or intruding on a whole community. I just felt apart of the world. A part of a community. This was Miss. Anna’s life, this was her son, Clayton’s life. This is life—just like my life in Auburn or my life in Atlanta. Yes, it looks different, that doesn’t make it any better or worse. We, as global lead, were not coming into “change the community,” to pass judgments on how other people live, or “make everyone feel a certain way,” we were there to learn from people, about people. We were there to experience life. THANKYOU, BEAUTIFUL.

sarah lawton hawkins