The10 Day Journey That Changed My Life

INTRODUCTION

In June 2016, I travelled to South Africa as a 17 year old boy to take part in a charity workshop. This is a charity which I had been working with for just about a year. This charity is called Heart4More which specialises in educating the public on the heart and the life threatening issues many people face everyday worldwide. We aim to educate the public in knowing how to deal the situations of heart attacks and cardiac arrests. I had been participating in the cardiac workshops since September 2015; these workshops were taken out in various settings such as schools, youth clubs, football clubs and even shopping centres.

Along with the cardiac workshops we carried out, we also had a football team which we ran on a weekly basis all year round. Along with providing football sessions, the head of the charity, also provided tutors for the boys in our football programme to help them academically. This was to reiterate that education was very important and that it was a priority.

The reason we travelled specifically to South Africa was due to the number of people who had been affected by heart problems. Sudden cardiac arrest was one of the top three causes of death in South Africa at the time of travel. We set out with a plan to educate as many people as possible and we in 10 days, we trained just over 3500 in how to perfrom CPR and how to use a defibrillator. We worked in communities, orphanages and also professional set-ups.

I personally created all of the five football workshops we carried out whilst we were in South Africa. I also led and directed them which helped to build my confidence and my ability to work in environments I had never worked in before.

THE LIFE CHANGING MOMENTS

The first life changing moment I encountered in South Africa occured in Johannesburg when we attended a centre which helped the community with various issues; these ranged from people suffering with HIV, to people looking for food or financial help. They had built an amazing facility there to aid the local community and to make it a better place to live. What opened my eyes was how grateful the people of the community were for what they had. I had always known what poverty was and living in London, I wasn't totally shielded from it from a young age. The thing that had touched me was the gratitude these people had for us for simply spending time there with them and teaching them new things. I remember one of the team members I was involved in the project with had a calculator and she handed it to a group of 6 boys and girls who were all aged around 5 years old; the joy that filled them because of something I wouldn't see as a luxury, made me realise just how blessed I am in life to have the things that I have. It made me realise that I need to be grateful for the small things I have. They taught me a lot in terms of gratitude.

The second life changing moment came in Durban working in a poverty driven neighbourhood. Walking through this small neighbourhood and witnessing the standard of living first hand came as such a shock. We always hear about poverty and how terrible it is. However, being in and around it and hearing stories of people who have to live in poverty, breaks your heart. I saw a constant pattern of houses made by scraps of metal 'guarded' by a fence which was no higher than 2 metres tall and had no strength to it. This re-enforced the fact that I had realised how privileged I am to be able to have been living in a two bedroom flat at the time with my family. The security of my: building, walls and roof was something I had not appreciated as much I should have until I saw this. We then had a tent set up for us to have lunch but I couldn't eat. My stomach had sunk and I had lost my appetite. All I could think about was the horrible living conditions I had just witnessed.

At the time I didn't realise the impact of taking my phone out and taking pictures of these living standards, would have on these people. For myself at the time, I was just documenting an aspect of the world that I had never seen before. I was attempting to create memories for myself that I would be able to reflect on when I returned to England and for the years ahead. I know the people in that neighbourhood knew the standards they were living in were poor but the thing that once agained touched me and changed my outlook on life, is the fact that these people seemed happy. They were talking with us, they were very welcoming and they were laughing and making jokes with us. When I take a step back from that now, I realise that money can't buy happiness.

I went to South Africa as a boy who thought knew a lot more than he actually did. I came back to England as a man whose outlook on life had drastically changed. I had started to appreiciate the things I took for granted life like having shoes on my feet or being able to eat and drink whenever I wanted to. I began to appreciate the struggles of others and this motivated me to build myself and gave me the goal of being able to change as many lives as I could. I realised that growing up in England I had always had the tools accessible to myself to become what I wanted to become and to do what I wanted to; I just had to use the rescources available to me in a constructive way and take control of my life. I realised that I had the ability to give to those less fortunate than myself because when I weighed up the differences in 'luxury', it didn't come close and I was taking it for granted.

I left England a boy and I returned a man who had a much better view of the world and my purpose in life.

- Anthony Lynch.