“We will be staying in San Salvador, but while we are there we will be taking day trips to Honduras and Guatemala,” says Beattie. “We are going to be visiting schools and hospitals and dropping off donations.”
Beattie started going on mission trips when she was in elementary school, but this will be Gratton’s first one.
“This is Melanie’s first trip, but I have done this for years,” she says. “Every time I do I always bring a lot of school supplies and clothing.”
On previous trips Beattie has brought her two young sons because she believes it is a valuable learning experience for them.
“The boys have always been into it too. I like to take them on vacations, but I want them to learn at the same time that other kids don’t necessarily have what they do. I want them to have that kind of generosity and understanding of other cultures.”
Beattie says it’s important to help people living in unfortunate circumstances.
“In El Salvador 19% of the population lives below a dollar a day,” she says. “And Honduras is actually the second poorest country in Central America.”
She says the trip may be “risky because all three countries are very dangerous, for sure, but that’s the risk we wanted to take. We want the cultural experience. We want to culture shock ourselves.”
Beattie says that although she has been on a lot of trips it is always “a life changing experience every time. Absolutely every time. You don’t take things for granted and it gives you the motivation to keep giving back.”
One trip in particular is still vivid for Beattie.
“I went to Costa Rica with my dad and we were just driving along the side of the road,” she says. “We came across a little girl who was literally wearing rags and her brother was naked. She was piggy-backing him along the side of the road. There were no parents to be seen and we were in the middle of nowhere.”
They pulled over and gave the children a few small trinkets they had and that simple gesture “made a big difference. We saw their little faces light up.”
Gratton is looking forward to sharing the same experience.
“I can’t wait; it’s all I can think about,” she says. “Just going there and giving what I can is going to be rewarding for me, and I can’t wait to see their reactions and smiles.”
Beattie and Gratton have been collecting items to bring on their trip and are grateful for donations they have received from family, friends and even a few local businesses.
“I went to two dollar stores in Niagara Falls and mentioned we were going on a trip, not with an organization by any means, and asked if they would be willing to donate. And they were more than willing,” Beattie says. “ The manager from Dollar Giant took cash out of his own pocket to buy items and a woman at Dollar Values was more than giving. She filled a basket within five minutes and handed it to me.”
She says generosity like this gives her more “faith in humanity” and it’s “nice to see how humble and giving Canadians can be.”
They have collected items like school supplies and trinkets, but still need some medical items such as band-aids and even reading glasses.
“Right now we have lots of pencils, pens and erasers. We need more medical items and reading glasses; affordable things that you can easily get at the dollar store,” says Gratton.
They can also use children’s clothing, whether it be new or gently used.
“We do have things geared more for kids. So that’s kind of what we are aiming for. Just to be able to give a child a cool pencil with an eraser or a tennis ball means so much to them,” says Beattie.
Gratton and Beattie leave on February 28 and are “anxious” to find out where they can help the most.
“We want to see what it’s like and be able to just get a grip on the reality of what is there so we can figure out what is needed and allocate things. I’m very anxious to see how people get by,” says Beattie. She also points out that although the area may need some help, the people are not desolate.
“They are a grateful culture; there’s no doubt about it,” she says. “I’m not trying to make it sound as though they are so without that their lives are completely miserable. They still lead very good lives because the people make the best of what they have. So for us, coming from a fortunate country, to see people who have so much less than us make the best of everything- how brilliant is that?”
She believes the focus on family, rather than materialistic items is how they achieve happiness.
“These people don’t need DS games or washers and dryers. They can still get by without these things. Their value on family time is where I’m always impacted the most. There’s an amazing sense of family.”
Beattie says the trip is “still a vacation for us, there’s no doubt about that, but we’re making sure we are not taking it for granted at the same time. We are going to take advantage of being in the rain forest and beaches, but doing our small part to help is what counts.”
She says when it’s time to return home, she will feel “torn”.
“I’m grateful to come back to what we have in our country, but there’s always that sense of sadness because we can only do so much to help. That’s the big thing, to realize you can only do so much, but knowing that any bit of difference is what counts. It’s not a selfish thing; it’s selfless.”
Beattie helped manage the soup kitchen in Niagara Falls last summer and she and Gratton hope to continue lending a helping hand in their own community as well as in other countries.
“When we come back I want to help out at the soup kitchen,” says Gratton. “It’s important to do things for our community too. We have so much here, and it’s nice to go over to other countries and give what we can, but it’s also important to continue helping when we come back.”
Gratton and Beattie are aiming to fill a few more suitcases with items to take to El Salvador. Any donations, such as clothing, medical supplies or children’s items would be greatly appreciated. They can be reached by email at Krisharris@vmobile.blackberry.com
published in Niagara This Week - February 27, 2011
No comments:
Post a Comment