A Humbling Experience

I stepped out of the airport in the desert sun with a big smile on my face. I heard a horn blow and turned around to see my best friend waving me down. I hadn’t seen her in nearly 4 months and was giddy with anticipation when she pulled up. She got out of her car and greeted me with her infamous smile. “Welcome to Arizona” Ally said. I threw my luggage in her trunk and got in the passenger seat. As we drove out of the airport I couldn’t help but smile. I knew it was Thanksgiving and I should be home with my family but I couldn’t help but grin with excitement about volunteering at the homeless shelter.

When we pulled up to the shelter I was overwhelmed with the size of the organization and when we arrived inside I was more overwhelmed with the amount of people who needed attention. I was quickly put to work coordinating volunteers on various projects that needed to be finished before Thanksgiving dinner at 5:00 p.m. While escorting a group of volunteers to the kitchen I met a woman named Rosa. Rosa told me she had been trafficked into the United States from Mexico, her only goal was to bring in drugs for a group of low level street thugs and in return, they would pay her five thousand dollars and she would be allowed to stay in the United States. When Rosa made it to the United States after four days in the bottom of a boat with no water or food, she was kicked off the boat in California and was never paid. Rosa made her way to Arizona and found three other homeless people at a bus stop. She followed the group to S.A.S.S. another local homeless shelter in Arizona, she lived there for two months until she got a job and a place of her own, and is now enjoying life in Arizona. Rosa told me she volunteers at St. Vincent De Paul every Saturday to give back to others who are struggling, because she said “she knows how it feels.”

Giving up Thanksgiving to work at a homeless shelter allowed me to view life from a different perspective. I find myself very humble and appreciate the things I have in my life now more than ever.