Community Service has always been a passion of mine, and last week at Nueva Lengua (Bogota), I had the unique opportunity to go visit a sort of soup kitchen where students from the school helped serve lunch to elderly citizens in need.

The event started with all of us (the students) along with all of the guests gathering in a hall to introduce ourselves and get to know each other better. Someone then entered to conduct a prayer before the meal. As someone who is not religious and therefore does not pray, I only stood there appreciating the opportunity to help and serve the community.

When the prayer was done, we all then worked our way into the dining hall. The food had already been prepared (which was great because cooking is not exactly a forte of mine). Our job was to portion the food and drink onto the plates and into the glasses, and proceed to carry them out to the tables. Everyone was given a bowl of soup, a plate of rice, meat, and vegetables, and some juice. There were many students, making the process highly efficient. ssWhen everyone had been served and some were starting to finish, we started clearing the dishes from the tables and taking them back into the kitchen to be washed.

The day before going to the soup kitchen, Nueva Lengua had done a small collection of donations that were used to buy small desserts (a sort of brownie thing) for each of the “abuelitos.” As the event came to an end, all the students lined up by the door to say goodbye and pass out the brownies. The love and appreciation shown from these people was unbelievable and we really felt so wonderful and welcomed. We did such a small thing and the genuine reactions of friendliness and humility from these people exceeded anything I had imagined prior to participating. The is activity has been one of the most meaningful yet, and I would definitely recommend it to anyone with the opportunity.

This article was originally written in English