Six-year-old Aquila
Treks the 2.5 miles
To Galina Primary every day.
When she returns,
There’s no time to practice
To study
To learn.

She must help scrounge for food
Attend to her sick father
And watch her siblings.

Aquila sits on the stoop
Of a broken down home
Not yet finished.
There on the top
Many metal sticks remain
Show casing the poverty
Overwhelming this country.

As she ponders her role
In this torn-up society,
It pains me to see a single tear.
Rolling down her cheek
And landing on her
One-strapped,
Peeled away,
And hole-y right sandal,
I cannot help but to immerse this little child in love.

Sitting to her left,
Fighting back tears of my own,
I ask this little baby girl
Why she is not running around,
Playing.

Sniffling away
And wiping her tears,
She simply looked up
And stated,
“I must help my papa”.

And that’s when I saw it.

A spark in her eye,
A tone in her voice –
I’m not sure which.
But something
About this little young lady
Radiated maturity
And benevolence.

She told me her story
Of her mother’s kind heart
That slowly diminished
Due to lack of food.

It’d been almost a year now,
However she recalls the day
As though it were only yesterday.

“You see,
Here in St. Mary’s,
There’s little to do.
No jobs to find,
And on this land,
No crops to yield.

Momma talked high though,
To God,
Jesus,
Whoever was up there,
Begging for mercy”.

She continued the account
Of her mother’s deteriorating body.
She ate last,
Least,
Sometimes not at all,
All to be able to attend to her family.

Astonished and heart-broken,
I wrapped this angel in my arms,
Praying over her and the remainder of her family.
Culture-shocked
And immediately transformed,
I realized Aquila is my purpose
For attending my Jamaica Mission Trip.

The departure of our newfound
Family love for one another
Was devastating,
As I couldn’t wish for more
Than to take her back with me.

Here in America,
We are blessed complainers.
Yet there,
In a seemingly alien world of it’s own,
They are praising optimists –
Always grateful for the little they own.

It can change your day,
Your mindset,
Your world,
To experience this selflessness,
This charity,
That little six-year-old Aquila
Graciously blessed me with.

Stop watching the sad commercials,
Remembering you forgot to write,
And experience a child’s love
Of someone who truly needs your help.

A simple quarter,
Care package,
Or maybe even a letter of faith to Aquila's mom
Could have raised her hopes
And helped her fight hunger.

You never know what small actions can alter realities.