Proud to be an American! Wishing i was Colombian...

Wow, what a profound weekend. I had an amazing expierence with the YMCA in Camp Bochica that while it is still fresh in memories feels like it could have a life changing impact. The ICCP (International Camp Counsler Program) of Colombia invited to me to join them at Camp Bochica as the delegate for the United States, to help inform particpants of what to expect culturally and to provide work related information. The dream of traveling for a citizen of the United States takes a few things, money, a passport, time, and some courage. If you have the money and time all you need is a plane ticket, and presto, here is your travel visa sir. For a citizen of Colombia it is much more than that, it´s not a vacation, it´s a dream, one that takes sacrafice, hard work, preserverance, and above all us more courage than one can imagine. It starts with a dream, to see the United States, the home of New York, Converse tennis shoes, Miami, the Rocky Mountains and Mickey Mouse. Than it takes a year of sacrifice, volunteering, not to mention the countless hours of work and studying English or course. Heaven forbid one should travel to the US with out perfect English, but dont worry if the Eiffel tower is on the agenda, Americans dont need to speak French... blah! With the Peso essentialy worth on half the value of the US dollar, it means Colombians have to work twice as hard and long and sacrafice twice as much for that plane ticket, could you imagine if the already expensive international flights doubled? How often would you go to the private resort in Mexico? That´s what i thought, it makes Daytona look better and better. Several cities send particpants ever single year, and ever single year there is a talent show to represent each cities unique and individual culture. AMAZING! The culture of Colombia is on display and the hertige is strong and proud. And different for ever city, i thought about what i would do for Kalamazoo, or Michigan, loose my job, play X-Box, gain wheight and where jeans and a white T-Shirt? Sorry Michigan, you know i love you, and i wouldnt let anybody that wasnt from there say that. I wish you could have seen some of these presentaions, you would have been as amazed as i am with the memories still ringing inbetween my ears 3 days later. And yet, of the 82 qualified, hardworking, amazing applicants we had, only 78 recieved Visas, 4 particpants where told no, you can not travel to the US, by the United States of America´s Embassy, located in Bogotá, Colombia. No, your hard work is not enough, no, your university is not good enough, no, your second cousins uncles brother in laws babysitters boyfriends aunt once talked to a Guerilla, No, No, No, No, denied. This is not to live in the U.S., this is for a 10 week job, with children, to enhance and share culture and enrich lives, no, no, no, denied. And, what did this four people do? They didnt hang their heads, they didn´t weap as they saw 78 of their friends achieve their goal, they didn´t curse the U.S. and call them dirty names. They lifted up their head´s, fought back the welt in the through, traveled to work training with the partners they sweat with, they bleed with, they laughed and cried with. And when they got to Camp Bochica, one this was consistent with everybody, they are proud to be Colombian. Proud of their culture, country, their famalies, their lives... The preserverance and determenation of these young men and women make you appreciate how lucky the American life is. Just like a fish does not see the water in which it seems, the American does not see the privaledge in which they live. I am proud to be an American, proud of everything that we have built, proud of the life that we live, but it took a country where people live and die with only this pride, to make me realize it. God bless Colombia, God bless Colombians, and to my fellow Americans, please understand how much God has already blessed us...