Logan Laws

E- Portfolio Project
One of the things that I have learned growing up is that
whenever you are given a chance to teach. The teacher will often
learn more than the student. This statement for me holds its truth
when speaking of service as well. Those who offer the service often
get more out of the experience then those they serve. It was a
wonderful idea to include some type of service in the humanities class
as we learned about our differences and what makes each person
special and important. The quote that consistently runs in my mind is,
we must learn to celebrate our differences rather than allow them to
segregate us. This thought brings me back to the idea that we are all
humans and we should treat each other with respect as such.
The service that I gave wasnt one that I had particularly planned
for this project, but I am sure that I couldnt have learned more from
any different experience about how to serve another. I am lucky
enough to be part of a company that co-founded a charity called,
Amigos of Honduras. This charity specializes in self-sustaining
projects that help the well being and quality of life of the people of
Honduras. We are most known for our water projects. This year I was
given the opportunity to take part in a Bi-annual trip to check up on the
progress of our projects and to take some gifts and necessities to a few
villages that we have been funding. It was an experience unlike any
other.
The trip started with an act of kindness that I overlooked at first.
We were planning on being in Honduras for about a week, but they told
us that we need to pack as light as possible but bring a bag as big as
we could. The project manager and charity founder Dave Riley gave
us all gifts and treats to cram into our bags along with all of our
belongings that we would get through customs. We wanted to
maximize the amount of things that we brought for other people so we
sacrificed a few of our own personal items so that we could fit in
perhaps 1 more toy, or 1 more tooth brush, or one more baseball
came. I quickly learned that this wasnt about me or any of the other
gringos that were going on the trip, this trip was dedicated to the less
fortunate.
We landed first in Tegucigalpa. This was the capital city. It is still
to this day one of the top 5 most dangerous cities in the world. One of
the highest murder rates per capita was in this city. I quickly realized
more and more about poverty and the acts that people would consider
to be criminal become more of survival for many people around the
world. I learned that even though we are all born equally as human.
Not everyone is entitled to certain things in life. Circumstances around
the world do not permit equality among all men in life or opportunity.

This realization furthered my desire to forget myself for this week to

focus on those in need. From Teguc we took a 3 hour truck ride to a
little village called Monte de Oki, or Mountain of Oki. This was the first
village that was ever helped by Amigos of Honduras and has become
one of the favorite villages to visit due to the great welcome they the
charity group receives every time we visit. We were immediately
surrounded by children without clothing and women that looked so
exhausted from a days work. One thing that I notice was that there
were very few grown men in the company. I asked a companion that
had made the trip before about the men and he said that they are
working in the fields until late at night. We wouldnt see them for
another couple of hours. As I looked further at the children I noticed
something that made me laugh. I noticed a Utah Jazz basketball shirt
and a University of Utah hat. I could tell that Utahns had been there
many times before. Mr. Riley immediately instructed us to open our
bags and begin giving 1 toy to each child and to be careful that we
didnt give multiple toys to kids that would try to sneak them. Once
the first toy was spotted it was like a stampede. We had to stay in the
bed of the truck because there were so many kids and so many
mothers as well, reaching and clawing for the toys. Lucky enough for
me I speak Spanish so it was a little less hectic for me, however my
Father who joined me on the trip doesnt speak Spanish at all had to
try and signal and yell to get the children to only take one. It was
hysterical. I could look around and see the pure joy and excitement in
these childrens faces and the one feeling that every volunteer felt was
the desire to just give as much as we could. The sad part was that we
knew that there were other village children to visit. We eventually had
to close our bags and hide away the goods. We stayed for awhile to
check on some of the projects that we had previously funded to make
sure that they were still working effectively. Like I stated before, our
specialty is water projects. Some of these villages have to travel up to
2 miles there and back just to get a fresh bucket of water. Honestly
they were lucky if the water was fresh at all. We stayed awhile after
working to simply play with the kids. They were very fond of the tall
white man that came to visit them every 6 months. One thing that I
reflected on was the idea of happiness. I could observe just by the
look on these childrens faces that they were happy with their family
and friends even though they didnt have all the blessings that I have
in my life. They found happiness in their own humble circumstance.
My personal thoughts on happiness were even more re-enforced that
happiness is not a consequence or reaction to a situation. Happiness is
a choice.
After a couple of other villages that we had visited throughout
the week, we began to run very thin and lightweight with the amount
of items that we had left in our bags. There was only one bag left. It
was filled with baby formula. This puzzled me because of the large

amount of open breast feedings that happen in impoverished

countries. This is because it is the cheapest way to feed multiple
members of a family. Mother breast feed their children as long as they
can. So these made me question even further. Why would we save
baby formula for the last visit? Mr. Riley explained to us that the last
stop of the trip was going to be at a local AIDS clinic off a coastal Island
of Honduras called Roatan. This island hosts a large majority of AIDS
stricken families. 1 in 10 people on that island have AIDS. Again my
question continued, why baby formula? Something that I learned is
that one of the main causes of infant contraction of AIDS is through the
breast milk of the mother. If a mother can keep their child on formula
until they can eat solid food, they can avoid contracting the disease.
However because of the lack of money, mothers eventually have to
choose between feeding their child with their breast milk and giving
them the disease, or letting them starve to death. This moral
predicament to me is one that I feel no mother should ever have to
feel. This is part of life that is not fair. It honestly caused me to
question the existence of one true omnipotent God that loves all of his
children.
I was lucky enough to have a few people there that instructed me
to consistently reflect on this visit. There is so many things that we
can learn from these people and their humble and honorable
existence. But the biggest thing that I took from the trip was that I am
very blessed. I have so many opportunities that it would be an insult
to those individuals if I ever let one opportunity get away. It has taught
me that no matter my own personal circumstances, I can choose to be
positive and be happy. There are people all over the world that werent
given as much as even the poorest American. It is so complacent and
fickle for someone like me to ever complain about the hand that I was
dealt in life. Perhaps they are the more blessed. Perhaps their humility
and genuine joy through family and friends is something that God
saves for special individuals.
Class Reflection
I have to say. I really wasnt looking forward to a humanities
class. It was just another stepping stone for me to get my associates
degree to move on the bigger and better things in the business world.
But there is stood in my pathway to glory I thought. I began to dread
the idea of arguing with Liberals about what is fair and what type of
Philosophy is more valuable to the human race or to the Nation or to a
political party. But it is more than clear now that my close mindedness
only served to prove myself a fool. There were so many things that we
talked about that I became passionate about. One of my favorite
topics in the class was that of religious tolerance and rights. I once

again learned how to love the individual differences of religions and

moral beliefs based from those religious teachings.
However one things that I think I continued to keep in my mind
was that small affect that one class could have on the world. It is hard
for me to fathom that in some way one of us could change the world
for the better. I hope that I am wrong. The world is so far messed up
and is so segregated by different, races, beliefs, cultures, and ethics
that I dont believe it is ever possible to unite the human race ever
again. Perhaps that is my pessimist side kicking which directly
contradicts my previous statements about positivity and happiness.
But reality is reality in my mind. Logical and mathematic is something
that my brain sustains above all else.
One thing I have learned to appreciate a little more is philosophy.
Philosophy in general is something that I openly struggled with in class.
But arguing is something that I have always loved. I learned for myself
that if I could somehow argee with one side of a particular philosophy,
my passion for arguing that agreement will intensify my love for that
particular teaching or philosophical idea. Personal manipulation.
Thank you for being a great and open instructor.