Development; community, personal, professional

Hi reader,
Kuei speaking. I went on this ISV trip in the first summer of my college career, leaving as an ex-high-schooler and coming back feeling like a real person. I have done some pretty crazy travelling and cultural immersions, as well as outdoor excursions, in the past but never have I felt like it was more than just for fun or eye-opening wonder. This trip not only did all 3, but it also gave me the opportunity to stick my hands in the mud and live a couple of hours per day in poverty. Seeing the world from the lives of Haitian-immigrants in the DR gave the world "helplessness" another dimension of meaning. I'm not talking about waking up and realizing you have too much work to handle or don't know what to do with your day in the middle of an empty campus on a thanksgiving in America (and you don't celebrate thanksgiving). No, I'm talking about the kind of helplessness where one has literally nothing to do because there is nothing they can do. Not only is human capital so in need of development there, there is rarely anything the locals can do to fix problems either due to resource scarcity or due to lack of awareness.
Imagine running into a man that hasn't showered for half a year and wondering why he has skin infections. No, it is not a spirit cursing you nor is it disfavor from a supernatural being. It's simply a lack of awareness to shower as well as a lack of showering facilities! I taught hygiene for the next half month. And English.
Using that same perspective, I resolved many bad personal habits and used this trip as an example of leadership and human service to apply for my first job/internship at a refugee resettlement agency, ultimately landing me the professional job developer position.

This trip let me grow as a person, develop professionally, and have fun and learn Spanish while doing that.