The Real Happiness

“ If you need to be happy, you need to surround yourself in happiness.”- Unknown

After looking back at home today I realized that true happiness is not measured in wealth, but is measured in whom you surround yourself with. Being on this trip for even a week has really changed my perspective on life, and I know it will change more in the week to come. If you were on this trip, you would realize that life is all about happiness, not what college you want to go to or your salary at your job. Being surrounded by these kids daily teaches me that we should know we are blessed with what we have – every drop of water, every piece of food, and that we have jobs to support our family. The kids at school are living with close to nothing and are still smiling at school.

After Tate, Kevin, and Nicole told me about their house visit, it really brought a tear to my eye. Mr. Kimaro is the computer teacher for LOAMO and struggles daily in life just because of money, but still comes to school with the biggest heart. After hearing the story that he appreciates every square inch of his kitchen-sized house really showed me how I wished we would start doing that. He has two little pods as a house and supports a family of five. Kevin told me that he and Mr. Kimaro talked about how much time Mr. Kimaro had to relax. Mr. Kimaro said, “My down time is 10:30 PM to 7:00 AM, and that’s when I sleep.” He gets very little pay, works all day, and would never think of complaining about his life the way we complain that our cell phone dies. He is the most dedicated and hard-working man I have ever met and I want to be just like him when I am older.

When Lisa-Marie told us the names of the less fortunate kids in the school and I heard my closest friend’s name I was very surprised. Not because she wears nice clothes everyday, but that she is smiling all day long at school and takes nothing for granted. Every day when I walk into the classroom, she is laughing and smiling and it’s really amazing to see that much happiness in somebody’s life with very little supplies. We have so much in life and just overlook it; the kids at the school would treasure the nice things that we have for the rest of their lives, and I wish in America we could do that as well.