Why I Want To Teach

Ever since I was a little girl, I always felt like I wanted to be a teacher.  I remember playing "house" with the neighbor kids, and I ALWAYS wanted to play a teacher.  So, I guess there was never really a time that I didn't want to be a teacher.  2 years ago, I went on a missions trip to Jamaica with my high school chorale.  (The chorale was a group who went to different churches throughout the school year and sang and also went oversees over spring break for 10 days.)

While we were in Jamaica, we sang at churches, schools, and orphanages.  While we were in Jamaica, we had a lot of time to interact with the kids and I loved this time!  My favorite experience, as well as one of the hardest things I have ever done, was visiting West Haven Orphanage in Jamaica.  West Haven is an orphanage for severely disabled children that is located in the tiny village of Copse.  It was so heartbreaking to see.  What the orphanage consisted of were children who were so emotionally and physically disabled that their parents didn't even want them anymore, so they dropped them off and never saw them again.  Almost all of these kid's parents were still living, but they didn't have a desire to see their kids again.  This was so heartbreaking to me.

Although most of the children were quite young, there was one woman who was actually 27 years old, but she had the mentality of a 8 year old.  This woman was so handicapped that she couldn't even feed herself.  So, I actually spoon-fed this 27 year old woman her lunch.  She was so sweet to me and had the biggest smile on her face.  She was so happy that we were there to spend time with them.  When we had to leave, all the kids ran up to us and gave us huge hugs and started to cry.  Most of them who could walk ran after out bus as we were leaving.  This was so hard for me.  I didn't want to leave!  I wanted to show these kids love, like their families did not do in the past.

Well, 2 years later, because of the trip to Jamaica, I realized that God not only wanted me to teach, but he wanted me to teach children with disabilities.  I look forward to see what God has planned for me in the future.  I hope that I can someday make an impact in a child's life for good.

This is a picture of me feeding the woman in Jamaica at West Haven.