Influenced Internationally by Kari

Influenced Internationally by Kari - January 2017 Scholarship Essay

Throughout my life I have always felt inclined to help others within my community and around the world. This past summer I was given the opportunity to travel to South Africa on a missions trip. While I was there I helped run a camp for little kids who lived in a very poor town called Motherwell. Motherwell was a town that was set aside during the apartheid for native Africans who were being removed from their homes within the cities. This in turn meant that Motherwell, like other government funded towns created during the apartheid, was a very poor town. When I returned home it became evident to me that I did not have to travel the world to find kids who are placed in a similar situation as the ones I met in Africa. I began to notice areas in my own town where kids are not as lucky as me, where poverty is a constant struggle.
Going to Africa and being able to help in the day camp encouraged me to do the same thing here in the United States. When I returned, I identified a government funded apartment complex in my own town. In middle school I tutored in the apartments. I knew that many of those kids did not come home to food after school. Most of them only ate at school because their lunches were free. Over the summer some of the kids broke into one of the apartments to steal food because they were so hungry. Hearing this it reminded me of the children in South Africa and urged me to take action.
Over the next few days I made flyers and posted them throughout the apartment complex, promoting our three day Vacation Bible School. I gathered a small group of teenagers and adults who were willing to help throughout the week. Then I asked my church to bring in food to pack lunches for the children that came to the camp. We raised enough food to pack over 50 lunches. We also got dental hygiene bags donated to us by a local dentist. We raised enough money through my church to provide the kids with pizza and popsicles for the other days of the day camp.
At our camp we were able to reach over 30 kids. We played games with them and shared bible stories. On the last day we gave each of them one of the lunches that we packed. Most of the kids took more than one for their siblings at home who were too little to come. I am so grateful for the opportunity that I had to serve in South Africa. Without that experience I would have never been inspired to start the camp in my own town.