Eric Siu recounts a missions trip to Guatemala with his former teacher Señora Bae, where he donated $10,000 to help a sick child and their family living in a tent. He reflects on how that single act of kindness shaped his understanding of gratitude.
Now I can give with my money and see like an actual difference in people's lives. And so I'm trying to do like one random act of kindness a month is like this little goal in my head of like— What would be an example of that? Last week we went back to my hometown. I did a missions trip. I went to a Christian school growing up. I went on a missions trip to Guatemala with my sophomore year Spanish teacher, Señora Bae. Oh, nice. You gave her money too? Yeah, yeah, yeah. We stayed in touch. For me, that was a transformational trip. I learned like on that trip to be extremely grateful for what I had because there's people that are way happier than me and more grateful and they don't have anything. And so it stuck with me forever. lesson that shaped me, and she shaped me as a teacher. And just her family's cool as hell. I absolutely love these people. So she hit me up a month ago, and she's like, hey, Chicharito— she calls me Chicharito— could you share this story? And she has no social media or anything like that. We're trying to raise money, and there's this family— she's sending me videos and pictures of this little kid that needs a home. He's sick. Their home is not a home. It's literally just like a tent, basically. It was $10,000, and I just went up there, brought her a check for $10,000. That's what it's about.
