“You cannot live a perfect day without doing something for someone who will never be able to repay you.”

January 25th-26th

Welcome, Team 72. Tonight as I picked up this journal I started to brainstorm the number 72. I began to think about the significance of our small team, this particular week, the 72nd group of people spending their time at Puericultorio Perez Aranibar. There have been 71 teams before us, 71 first days at PPA, 71 journals, and hopefully there will be many more that follow. So what is the significance of team 72?

Today in our first meeting it was mentioned that we are part of a chain. A chain of people from all over the world, here for various reasons, all connected by these children in whose lives we are trying to make a difference. We all started our multiple tasks today. Whether we are coloring with the girls, chasing the runaways, or changing a diaper, we are each making a difference in their daily lives. We are giving them an unconditional loving interaction that otherwise they may never have. Who knows whether they will remember our individual faces, or how to pronounce our names, but I am sure they will never forget the “voluntarios” who always come to play and have fun with them. Marian Wright Edelman said, “We must not, in trying to think about how we can make a big difference, ignore the small daily differences we can make which, over time, add up to big differences that we often cannot foresee.”

Chances are we will never see these kids after they have grown, or know what kind of impact we truly made. But if we can be a part of those small daily differences, then Team 72 can be a strong link in the chain that makes the world a better place for these deserving children, part of a chain that will undoubtedly change their lives.

Cheryl