The Lao Children of the Mekong River

 

I’ve always believed that to be free, to find a place that will truly be free, you need to love yourself and embrace all your flaws. It must be a place that is accepting and where you can truly breath in the essence of God’s beauty.

When I reached an age where I could travel independently, I decided to finish visiting South East Asia. I was always one for community service, so my first stop was enchanting Laos.

Travelling alone is no easy feat, especially when you’re clutching your boarding pass, adrenaline pulsing through you, while you wait to board the plane.

But Laos was everything I dreamed of. The sunsets on Mekong River were fascinating and every morning, there would be people playing music before the low river that was the short walk between Laos and Thailand.

I was free, then, from all the constraints of daily life, all the examinations and due dates. The only due date was the due date of my canned food.

I volunteered at an orphanage. The head nun was about 80 years old and headed 4 orphanages for the disabled around Laos. She was amazing. Nobody there judged you for your past, but only for your present. They did not look your bag and brands, but instead at your heart and soul. They were so raw and pure tat I mourn the day they become pragmatic adults.

They slept on bed frames without mattresses and yet the way the ran across the fields to feed the cows show no backache that were reflective of us who sleep on muscle-memory mattresses. The way they swam in the muddy drains showed no disgust like us who swam in Olympic-sized pools that had a leaf or two.

They were free. They were free of worry and judgement. No, they did not care what people thought of them for the only judgement they cared for was that of God.

And while I watched them be free, be happy, I wanted to be free as well. I watched them kicking up dust whilst I helped the nun into the chapel in the evening and I wanted so badly to be free.

So that evening, when I walked down the same Mekong River, I took off my shoes and took a deep breath. I watched the incredible sun set and the excited dancers shake. I joined them and I laughed and I danced so terribly that I was certain I was free.

So now I beseech to you. To travel, to meet new people and discover places that the sun has not had the glory of the shining upon. Find children without worries that may teach you things beyond their years. Find elders who have lived through wars, who treasure freedom more than anyone else. Find great caves that have the freshest air, rooms that trap you but free your soul. Find open lands with greenery so green it makes the sky look green, land so big that you feel your heart grow.

I ask you, to travel and find yourself. Find somewhere or someone to show you what it is to be free and hopefully you will find yourself and be free.

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