We sing songs, learn new words like “holistic child development“, eat fish heads and potatoes, run relay races, cry and laugh a lot. And at the end of the day we’re full – of information and emotion and inspiration. Where do we begin to write?

So, as the bus pulls up to the hotel, I ask the bloggers what they’ll remember about this day for years to come.

What one snapshot will you carry from this day? Start there.

For me?

Darwa was my shadow today. He took my hand early this morning when we first arrived at Child Development Center TZ-967. And he woulnd’t let go. And he never said a word. He just held on.

Until fatigue chased him down. He fought valiantly though; his head bobbing, eyes fluttering.

But finally sleep overtook him and his fingers slipped off mine and he leaned his sweaty back against my chest.

He let go.

And I held him.

Rest.

It was a moment that reminded me of another snapshot I’ve carried since 2005.

I pushed Yanci, the first child I sponsored, in a swing at a Child Development Center in El Salvador. She clung to me like I was her favorite uncle. We played and laughed hard together for hours and then, at the end of that too-short day, on a bus speeding through San Salvador’s buzzing streets, life s l o w e d down for me and came into crisp focus.

Yanci laid her sweaty face against my chest. I brushed the hair away from her eyes and heard – deep down in my bones – that I was saved for this. For children like Yanci in need of release from poverty. For Americans like me in need of rescue from wealth.

My fingers slipped off my life – my work, my house, my cable, my time, my money. No longer mine. I let go. And Yanci became famous.

There’s no rest for those who hold on. Let go. Sponsor a child.