The Compassion Experience

Not long ago, I heard of something called The Compassion Experience.  I had seen that other homeschoolers were visiting it and I became curious.  I went to their website to find out what it was all about.  (You can find out more information about it HERE since they have locations nationwide.)  It is an organization that helps people see first hand what it is like to live in a 3rd-world country, and how people from well off countries can help these people with basic needs like education and medical attention.  The Compassion Experience lets you walk through several rooms that show what people's homes, schools, etc. look like while you listen to a child's real life story.

First, Lily, Skyler, and I walked through Kiwi's story.  Kiwi is a girl from the Philippines.

She lived in a hut made of bamboo.  Her father was an alcoholic.  Kiwi was the 4th child born to her parents but the first to survive because of their lack of good medical care.  Her mother's third delivery was a c-section without anesthesia.  Her mother somehow survived.

They never had enough money to buy any food other than rice.  They didn't even have enough money to buy rotten fruit.

One day, Kiwi was sponsored by a family in Australia.  She was able to eat healthy food and get an education.  Her family found Christianity.  Her father stopped drinking.

Kiwi moved to the US to go to college and is now working as a physical therapist and is married.

Then we got to listen to Jonathan's story.  He is a 7 year-old boy from the Dominican Republic.  He wasn't able to go to school because he had to help make money to eat by selling homemade juice.  He lives with just his mother.

Jonathan's father abandoned him when he was a baby and when Jonathan found him, his father was furious and said that Jonathan was a mistake.  His father had a new family.

Jonathan was sponsored and was able to go to school.

"Chicken?!  Only rich people eat chicken!"

"When you spend all your time and energy making enough money to eat, you easily overlook things like learning how to brush your teeth."

Jonathan knew that Christ always forgave others.  So he knew he had to forgive his father.  Eventually they ended up having a great relationship.

Jonathan now works at a Christian church for youth in the Dominican Republic and will be going to school to become a lawyer to help his country become better.

When you walked out of the tour that had lots of packets hanging from the wall.  They each had a picture of a child in need of sponsoring from different parts of the world.  Lily and Skyler were going through a little bit of culture shock and didn't know exactly how to express themselves.  I asked them what their favorite part was, but all they would tell me were things that made them sad.  It was my intention to let them see what is a reality for so many children around the world.  My kids want for nothing, but their life is normal to them and so they don't realize how blessed they are -- but now they understand a little bit more.

On the drive home, we talked about everything we learned and how it made us feel.  We decided that the kids could do some bigger than normal chores and submit the money they earned to humanitarian aid at church.  This experience was definitely another homeschool win.  We will definitely visit again when they come back to Raleigh.