Left me thinking about how evil we can be but other days were the exact opposite

Cassie Spada writes:

For me, visiting the orphanages was one of my most memorable moments on this trip. It really highlighted where we were and how lucky we are. Personally, I was really touched that there was one orphan who bonded with me almost immediately. I don’t know his name, I don’t know how old he is, I don’t think he even spoke a single word of English but he was happy. For this boy, a group of foreigners had just come to his home and started playing with him and his friends. For a little boy, this would have been the weirdest experience and even though he probably won’t remember it in 5 years’ time, I will remember it forever. I’ll remember when he first came over to me and placed himself in my lap. I’ll remember the smile on his face when I taught him how to take a selfie and when we put funny filters on our faces. I’ll remember his face when he took a picture of himself and when he was playing games on my phone. Whatever had happened to this little boy in the past didn’t really bother him, he was genuinely filled with joy. I’ll always remember what happened when we got told to say goodbye and began to leave. I pulled him off of my lap, said goodbye and he ran straight back into my arms and wrapped his arms around me.

 I spoke to a couple of the adults about the main thing that this trip had showed me. The main thing that I learnt was that the human race can be really cruel but we can also be a beautiful, kind, loving, joyous species. The Vietnamese war was cruel, brutal and included some very unnecessary violence against young children and innocent citizens. This is an example of how easily we, as human beings, can turn into monsters. Some days on this trip left me thinking about how evil we can be but other days were the exact opposite.