I returned from a trip to Peru a few months ago filled with love for the beautiful people there and their amazing culture. As a participant on a community-based travel program, I made deep connections with an Andean family during a home stay and gained many new and genuine friendships along the way.
So when that country was hit with a 8.0 magnitude earthquake just weeks ago, it felt like it had hit my own backyard, not a South American nation some 5,000 miles away. I thought of the names and faces of real people that I knew may have been affected. It was as though the entire nation had become my extended family, at least in my heart.
As a staff member of a local non-profit, I was called on to help channel relief funds to communities that were in need. It’s hard to express what a cathartic and uplifting experience this was! As a donor, I felt empowered by having a way to support the people of Peru. But also working on the relief effort, I was touched by the feeling of community shared by those on both sides of the equation.
No matter what the reasons are for giving, it knits us closer together. I love the fact that travel allows us to see the world — full of strangers that live far away and speak different languages — as an extension of our own home, family and community.
Be ready to welcome a new world family into your life as you travel, and don’t forget to give back to the people that have opened their lives to you. We come from a life of great privilege here in the States and have much prosperity to share. But while our dollars may buy medical supplies for earthquake victims or go towards building a school in an impoverished village, it is the spirit of generosity that truly sustains us all.