By Nishanne Kress
You don’t realize how good you have it, until you see others with nothing. My fiancé is from a city in northern Peru and when I visited him there for the first time I knew I wanted to raise some money to help serve this community in some way.
Through my fiance’s father we were made aware of a small family in great need. I asked my family and friends if they would like to help me help this family. I raised just over a hundred dollars and I was excited to get to work bringing some joy and lifting some burdens.
When I arrived in Peru my eyes were open to just how different life was there compared to my beautiful home town of Weiser, Idaho. Stray dogs roamed everywhere. Taxis and buses filled roadways that were lined with piles of garbage. I came to realize very quickly how blessed I was coming from my quiet, clean and calm little town. I was ready to get to work and help, even if I could only help one person.
We went to visit the family and see what their needs were and what we could do to help them. I was overwhelmed with emotion when arriving at their home. I tried hard to hold back the tears as I looked at the situation. Here was a mother with four small children living in a small home that was essentially a 10X10 foot room. The floors were hard dirt and there was no electricity or plumbing. Very little was in the room. There were a few clothing items and a broken down dirty mattress on the ground.
The woman’s three little girls were shy and nervous to have us there. The little boy looked up at me with the biggest smile from his spot on the floor where he knelt. He seemed content on the ground with a bowl full of old noodles and a toy car. All the children were barefoot and walked on ground that was sandy and had a lot of plastic, metal and glass shards. I knew those children needed shoes to protect their feet. My fiancé, his father and I left their home with a promise that we would be back soon.
The next time we visited the home we brought with us a bunk bed frame, mattresses, sheets, pillows, blankets, food and shoes. We helped her clean out the room and removed the old heavy mattress that once laid on the floor. We cleaned the children up and then presented them each with their own pair of shoes. We spent time teasing and laughing with the kids. They never stopped smiling. They were so excited to have things as simple as their own shoes and a bed not on the floor to sleep on.
This experience changed me. All I want to do is look past my own troubles and feel that joy that came from that service. I will be returning to Peru at the end of the month. While I am there it is my desire to help in any humanitarian work I can and serve in the community by helping families who are in desperate need of simple things I find myself taking for granted.
If you would like to help please message me. Service makes my heart happy and any money or donations would be very much appreciated. I set up a Venmo account for this purpose. It is @nishannekress . Thank you.
