PARAGUAY

Jodi and girls from Asuncion on the trip for MAP International.

God did a thing. I didn’t know it at the time, but God did a thing. This trip, changed my life. My whole perspective on life. I thought I was in the wrong place. That I was supposed to be in Hollywood, making blockbuster movies. But the moment we got on the plane, things were different. My outlook on life changed. I learned so much and Paraguay, the wildfire smoke in the air, the heat and sunshine, the gentle people, the struggle between poverty and aristocracy, the grand architecture from the past: it had my heart from the beginning we met.

And there’s Spanish words and logos posted on walls and buildings and signs: the art. I never imagined in a million years Paraguay, that I would be there, or even heard the name, but here we were. Then she was there. I walked into the room and saw this child on life support, looking at me. Not asking for help. Not asking for mercy. Just patiently breathing through the situation. Tubes in her. It put a crack in the hard shell of my heart. People patiently waiting in hospitals, hoping to receive treatment for their cancer, or their children’s cancer, just waiting. Content. Peaceful. Unbelievable.

Thank YOU MAP International and PAR Pharmaceuticals for bringing me along.