Many people in today’s society take a lot of things for granted. Do they realize that they are ungrateful or not? Why does society act like this? We are blessed to have a lot of tangibles, but yet we are never satisfied with what we own. The word “more” and “better” runs across our minds daily. I was given an opportunity to talk to Ana Dang about how her life changed after attending a mission trip to Cambodia. Traveling to an area that she had never been to, she laid down her pride and sacrificed precious time to serve children in unbearable weather. There she learns to appreciate what she has, and learns to be thankful for every little thing she owns. As she begins, she talks about how life was before going to Cambodia. Her daily routines were attending school, church, and hanging out with friends. She always wanted the best of the best and everything had to be the newest. She wanted everything and she couldn’t stand not acquiring a certain thing that someone else had. Because of her need of materialistic items, her priorities were not what it should have been. All of her life, she had been sheltered by her parents and given almost anything she wanted. Even when it came to going to college, she did not have to pay for her education out of her pockets. Instead, she received money back and that became her downfall. Never working a day in her life, she never knew the value of hard earned money. She squandered literally thousands of dollars away of useless items that today she doesn’t even remember where all her money went. “I always think to myself, what did I spend all this money on?” The only area of her life that kept her in a stable position was church. When given the opportunity to go on a mission trip to Cambodia, she was hesitant at first. It was going to be a completely different environment than what she was use to. In the end, she decided to go because she wanted to serve and have a mini vacation. She expected the trip to change her in some way, but at the same time her mentality was just to have fun. She admits that her reasons for going were not something to be proud of and quite shameful. As the time drew nearer and nearer for her to leave, she definitely was not as prepared as she thought she was.
It all started in the summer of June 2011, when she boarded a plane to Cambodia. Not realizing where she will be, and whom she would meet, she prepared to journey into a country that she is not familiarized with, to help children learn about Christianity. While teaching, not only she taught the children, but also the children taught her abundant amounts of life lessons. From the little things that she crosses everyday to the major things, she got a better perspective on how she acts and see society acts.
There she learned how hard life is in Cambodia. The people there don’t have air conditioning, and most of them live in huts they call their house. They work from dusk to dawn in order to survive. As soon as the children are of age to work and understand what they have to do in order to provide for their family, they work as hard as the parents to provide for the family. She found out how hard they have to work and here in the America she never worked or had a job. She spends money freely, and people in Cambodia work so hard, especially the more poor, and not be able to spend it on anything for themselves. “It’s crazy how they work so hard and not be able to spend money on the things you like. I think I would cry if I were in their position.” I know some people in America have it rough, but at least we have air conditioning! Though it might not be a majority of poverty over in Cambodia, but how I see it from Ana’s perspective, I feel that it is a lot more poverty in Cambodia than America.
She also realized, they cherish every single thing they have. They love their family and they don’t argue or quarrel with each other. They always stick together and take care of one another. Although her siblings are years older than her, she still cares about them and she has tried to be more appreciative of them. For me, siblings arguing and fighting is a norm. It doesn’t mean I love my siblings any less. Ana saw that these children cherish every little thing from family to even a pencil. Who would think a pencil could be such a precious thing? “They even fought for a bar of soap we had in little gift bags that was handed out!” she stated.
After the mission trip she changed her attitudes toward certain situations abundantly. She now spends more wisely and has a different perspective on certain things and ideas. Her eyes are now opened to a whole new view, and she became more grateful then she was before. I feel as most people do take things for granted, but it’s just the way of life. People will always strive for the best and only the best.