St Aloysius College GK Immersion 2007 By TOM HALL
Even though I was only in the GK Village for a week, I felt as if I was fully part of your community. Helping people build a house was the least I could do in return for your kind hospitality and warm reception.
Each and everyone one of us is blessed in a different way, and being in your village for those seven days opened my eyes and allowed me to share and learn from the vibrant locals.
Being so far away from Australia on a different continent, I was a long way from the comforts of my own home and family. But being around such a welcoming group of people I felt like I had found myself a second home.
Our immersion motto "learning to serve and serving to learn" fits perfectly in this situation, as in working for your village we took so much from the experience.
Back home in Australia people are keen to ask me what my experience was like, and more importantly, what drove me to do such a thing. I can't thank my school enough for the opportunity, nor the GK community for taking us in. Seeing people with so few possessions yet so much spirit made me realise what in life really is worth valuing. It's not the comfortable bed, large television or flushing toilet we possess that makes us happy, it's the relationships we share with our family and friends that hold the key to happiness.
Building the house in such hot and humid weather sure was a challenge! Mixing cement, passing bricks and levelling mud was a change of pace from life back home, but sitting here now writing this I wish I could be back in your village helping GK reach its goals.
I'd like to think our small contribution to your community made some difference to someones lives, whether it be the person we gave a roof to, or the locals we conversed with. May the houses we build stand as a symbol of unity between us, we gave your village something and in turn took a new outlook on life away.
Thank you for such a loving Gawad Kalinga experience, for taking us into your community and for showing me what I really should be valuing in my own life. Your happiness has certainly passed on to me, and it still burns strongly even though I'm thousands of kilometres away in Australia.
I look forward to seeing you all again soon.
Our immersion motto "learning to serve and serving to learn" fits perfectly in this situation, as in working for your village we took so much from the experience.
