Travel Turtle

When I was ten years old, I spent the summer living the two extremes of my family. I visited my aunts, cousins, uncles from each side of my family. One set, my mom’s family, was over in the Philippines. The other set, my dad’s family, was in Florida. My parents were the financial middle of their siblings.

My family in the Philippines (aunt, uncle, three cousins, grandma) lived in a two room bamboo hut in the middle of the woods. They grew their own vegetables, had a pump outside for their water and used a generator for electricity several hours a day… to make us comfortable. One night we cooked more food than we could possibly eat (this happens a lot when we visit), so we packed up all the leftovers, hiked through the woods to get to the “main street”, waited for a jeepney (local public transportation) and went into town to a house where someone had a freezer. We rented space for the leftovers.

My family in the states lived in a large four bedroom, three car garage house in a community with similarly sized homes, a big screen television, the coolest bathroom I ever saw, and a pool. I don’t know what happened to the leftovers because I was playing in the pool all day. As a ten year old, I recognized the huge financial differences between these two sides of my family. I can confidently say that they both had their ups and downs, and I knew it back then. I would say that both sets of cousins had a lot of happiness in their lives, one set just had to play a more active part in their household.

I went to the Philippines, for the first time since I was ten, last year. My mom sent her sister $25 or so whenever she had the chance, so they had more opportunities than some of their friends. They now live in a cement home, with electricity, running water, in town. They own their own business, all of their kids (my cousins) have a college education.

We spent one of our days in the Philippines visiting the most beautiful beach, Boracay. Walking down the beach, I was approached by many, many children to buy jewelry. A beaded necklace for a dollar, earrings for 25 cents. These little girls were all around ten years old. While, I always understood the differences between my own family in the States and in the Philippines last year was the first time I realized that I could have been the one living in the Philippines. Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure it would’ve been a great childhood. But, I realize how fortunate I really am. I am thankful that I don’t have to take my lifestyle for granted. I am so glad that my mom helped to support her sister, so that my aunt can make her own family have a better future. I am lucky because I don’t see poverty as a “them”, but as a part of me.

When looking at the blog action day information, I immediately thought of my family. Then I looked up some statistics that I thought I’d share here:

If the world were a village of 100 people:

• 20 earn less than a dollar a day
• 60 would always go hungry
• 17 cannot read or write
• 26 do not have electricity

So, do you want to make a difference in someone’s life? The first thing you need to do is to realize that you can make a difference. If 20% of the world earns less than a dollar a day, every dollar counts. If you can’t give money, give time by volunteering or talking about it. Not every donation needs to be single-serving. Donations that allow people to receive the education they need to become more self-sufficient are valuable. I know it’s not easy, but it’s not impossible.

Here are some resources so that you can donate in a way that works best for you.