How to create a meaningful trip for your kids?

This was the piece of reflection my child done when she was 11. I broke into tears when I see it. It is worth so much more than the money spent on the trip....

Hi my name is Olivia, I’m an 11 year old girl. My dad always told me that helping others was a good thing, but i never felt the importance and the happiness of helping others, i only felt i was the only important one and all i ever needed to do was to fulfill my own need,that’s what i thought  until i went on this trip.

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When my dad first heard of the trip he was really excited and asked me to tag along and of course my first is “NO”. Why? Because I didn’t want to experience the dirty roads, toilets, meet new people, go to other people run down houses and other stuff that are not pleasant. But after i thought about it for a while I figured maybe i wasn’t so bad, maybe for once i can actually help people not just sit here and do nothing. There is a quote i thought of “ I don’t trust words i trust action” It’s sort of the same thing to  what i’m doing. You shouldn’t just sit here and  think “I am gonna be a better person”, you’re not gonna. You have to do something to make others feel that you have changed and became a better person and that you tried to help .

I changed my mind a lot of times first it was a no then it was a yes . At that point my dad started begging me to come with him because he wanted me to become a better person and know how fortunate i am and try more new things. He also wants me to go back to school with a proud smile and be able to  loudly say “ I did a good deed!” . So of course i agreed if i didn’t go  i wouldn’t be writing this now would I ?

So on that day, the day when we finally went to yun nan, i was dreading thinking “ ugh i want to go back to bed” or “ I don’t want to go”.But i know i have to go, i really did experience a lot during that  trip. The happiness the others were feeling even though they don’t have enough money to have a decent meal, the joy they felt worshipping god, even though they don’t have enough money they still felt the importance of building him a proper place where his followers can worship him. I went to a lot of place but all the place where i went to, they all had 1 thing that is  similar, every place that we went to, the people there welcomed us with big hugs and joyful smiles, they offered us a lot , even though they had so little. They didn’t care about how little they have, all they wanted to do was to make us feel welcomed and loved.

Ever since i was little i wanted to become a doctor so that i can save lives and see other people's smiles when they see their friends or family safe and sound. There were 3 doctors on this trip, even though they weren't pay to do it, they still helped the people. They did blood tests on them , i learnt a lot from that experience , and that experience gave me an urge to not just dream about being a doctor but actually becoming one but not those kinds of doctor who just stay at the hospital and not feel passionate about their job. I wanted to become a doctor who would travel to different places and help the ones who don’t have enough money .

I’m really happy that i’ve decided to join this trip, because this trip gave me the joy and pride to say that i’ve actually try to help people but now just sitting down here and thinking i need to help , i’ve actually raised money to help them and also by joining this trip i made a lot of new friends.

But the most important thing i learned on this trip is not just having the joy to say i’ve helped them .The most important thing  is that even though all i did was give them a little money, they’re truly thankful and they give you the most precious thing on earth, just a simple happy smile.

About Dad Day Out - www.daddayout.com
Dad day out is a community that gathers ideas together for dad to have a fun & bonding relationship with their kids. By promoting the importance of dad-children relationship, we also raise the awareness of numerous kids in China being an orphan or without constant care by their parents through supporting the work of Medicare.

Medicare (http://www.medicare.org.hk) is a non-profit organization that provides medical needs and financial assistance for underprivileged children's education.

A short video I made to record this special experience I had....