Hola chicos,
Did the title of this blog get ya? Good. Because this is what I have been experiencing for the last 24 hours. I have the worst stomach bug in the history of me ever having stomach bugs. And the refugee center is not a place where you want the stomach bug. There are over 43 families staying here tonight and about 15 of them sleeping in my room. The nearest bathroom is a shared facility way down the hall and all and all it is not a pretty picture. I miss my Mom and Guille, and Kyky and Beaux, who I know would be making me all kinds of soup and Gatorade concoctions right now. It is no fun to be sick away from home.
But this experience has made me realize just a little more what these refugees had to go through to get to where they are now. Most come into the refugee center sick. Many have had to endure what I am going through right now. Except, the difference is, I have a whole staff of people helping me. I have a toilet to throw up in, I have a fellow volunteer making me soup, I have access to clean water, crackers, and a shower. I am the luckiest stomach bug person ever.
I came to Centro San Juan Diego to help the refugees. But now the refugees are helping me. They are bringing me crackers, agua, entertaining me with jokes and smiles, checking in, and so much more. This isn’t how it was supposed to go… I am supposed to be helping them. But that’s the beauty of humanity. You help each other when needed.
So thank you familia de Centro San Juan Diego. I am forever grateful and I am hoping that tomorrow I can get back to being the helper.
Senora Traub
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