A Journey Four Months in the Making

Back in January, as I readied myself for the new semester, I drove a few miles to the nearest Wal-Mart and picked up new pencils, pens, and notebooks for myself. Today, the school supplies we have been collecting started out on their journey. Unlike my last minute trip to Wal-Mart, these supplies are on a journey that we started 4 months ago. A journey that still has more than 7000 miles to go.

Last week, my mother surprised me. I came home to another box of supplies, these from the ladies of her Bible Study. I began to realize how many people touched and will touch these supplies in the process of getting them to Afghanistan.

Some of my classmate's hands, preparing the shipment that went out today (Photo by: Shelby Register 2012).

The supplies that my mother collected were first touched by the ladies of her Bible Study; they gathered them from their homes or went to the store and bought them. Then, they were collected in a box by my mother. They journeyed from a church in Riverview, to our home in Lithia. My brother was the next person to touch these school supplies, and then my father who put them in my car. I then travelled with them from Lithia to USF, where my classmates and I will pack them. Professor Temple will touch them next, taking them to a post office, where worker after worker will transport them on their way to Afghanistan.

By the time these supplies have reached Afghanistan, a countless number of hands will have helped these supplies on their journey. The owners of these hands may or may not know what is in the boxes they held, but I and my classmates know and have told many others about the important work we are doing. The supplies are on a journey now, heading to Afghanistan. A journey sending them across the world. A journey that will end only when a child is holding them. A journey that will bring education, progress, and, hopefully, peace. A journey that ends in hope.

Professor Temple arbitrarily chose parking spot #45 this morning, little did she know that two hours later, we would have exactly 45 boxes of hope loaded into her car, ready for shipping (Photo by: Shelby Register 2012).

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