blog@grange

Sophie Hirst left the Upper Sixth last year. As part of her year off before university she travelled to Paraguay and worked in a number of projects alongside a church, helping some of the poorest in Asuncion,the country's capital. She came into school recently and gave a really inspirational assembly; here is the conclusion that she shared with us:

I went to Paraguay knowing no one and very little about what I would be doing. I thought I was going to teach, and to help people: everyone does when they do this kind of thing. They think they are going to go out somewhere ‘to make a difference’ and maybe even ‘change a few lives’; I had no idea what I’d be doing specifically, but I guess, if I think back on it, that was my general aim.

The thing is, though, I learnt so much more than I taught (which is not to say that my teaching skills were in fact pretty poor!): if you go somewhere where things are so different and where priorities are on an entirely different scale, you cannot help but revaluate your own. I have no doubt that those children will forget my name soon; children do. But I will not forget theirs because they showed me what it was to really live and be grateful, just for the sun that rises each day.
I don’t really have an overall message. I’m not asking for anything or telling you to think differently about anything. I’m just telling you that doing what I did made me think very differently about a lot of things. I guess if I wanted to leave you with anything it would be this; don’t be scared to just go for it. Go out there and see it for yourself. Then maybe when you come back and you happen to bump into me, you will tell me you knew what I was talking about.