ONE Mom Blogger Alice Currah is traveling to Ethiopia with ONE in October. This piece, originally published on her blog, Savory Sweet Life, is part of our coverage in the lead up to the trip.
While rummaging through old boxes for baby photos of my daughter’s school project, I found pictures from my early 20s, volunteering abroad in South and Central America. Working in remote areas serving the poorest of the poor in Bolivia, Guatemala, and Nicaragua, I realized very quickly that part of my life mission would be dedicated to fighting extreme global poverty.
While living one summer in Bolivia, I mainly volunteered in an elementary school doing whatever it was that needed to be done — including administering routine lice checks. One of my most favorite things to do was to make home visits to the families of some of the students. Most of the families lived in corrugated metal shacks with dirt floors and no running water, bathroom, or kitchen amenities. Yet, these were some of the most content joyous people I have ever met.
