My 13-year-old daughter Eliana, is going to Rwanda on Monday. After years of hesitating to take her on Vitamin Angels’ trips, because of health and safety concerns she is going to a country that was witness to one of the largest genocides in recent history. She’s excited, my wife and I are a little nervous and our family and friends are incredulous as in ‘You’re sending her where?!’ It is all Angelina Jolie’s fault, but I’ll get to that later.
Yesterday at the pretrip meeting, all of the parents were comparing notes. Most agreed that even mentioning Rwanda is a conversation stopper. Earlier in the day while calling AAA to get Ellie medical traveler insurance, I mentioned her trip’s destination and the line went silent.
Have you ever allowed your child to go to a dangerous place? What was that like for you and for them? Has your child ever gone to a developing country to do service?
