Service – Winter Break

Lastly we arrive at service, which I will say was one of the most rewarding times during break, and also gained me a new admiration for certain people and their selflessness and drive to help others. For service, I helped Alex and Sibley Zepeda wrap and prepare gifts for the annual CEPIA Christmas party, where nearly 1,000 children whose parents cannot afford to provide presents are given to them for free. Although I could not possibly put into words what a true feat this is, I will say that Alex Hill is easily one of the most dedicated, hard working, and selfless people I’ve ever met. I was simply blown away by the amount of time she and SSibley invested in the project, from promoting and acquiring gifts to wrapping, organizing, and delivering them all. I assisted them during the wrapping and organizing stage, and while I did that I was able to talk to them about some of their experiences and times during the party when they actually hand out the presents and meet the kids. Some of the stories are extremely saddening, and I have serious doubts about whether or not I would be able to handle the emotional load that they carry seeing nearly a thousand children living in severe poverty, some asking for houses or other essential items for Christmas, things that no child should ever have to wish for. But as I wrapped the gifts and set them in piles I had to remind myself that these kids are also experiencing generosity, becoming aware that someone cares about them and is doing their best to ensure that the kids have Christmas. The world is full of these kinds of people, although they may not get as much attention on the news or social media as they deserve, and it is important to remind yourself of that when you read terrible headline after terrible headline, the world itself sounding like one giant, flaming ball of humanity’s greed and flaws. This all connects back to my project, back to why I wanted to carry on MUN in the first place. I wanted to show people that there are organizations in this world doing their best to promote democracy, cooperation, and peace, and that as long as we support these organizations and ideals we can continue to foster generosity and harmony, providing a strong light of hope in a world that all too often seems to be shrouded in depravity and darkness.