Tell Me Your Story #Czech Republic

On Saturday, September 21, IAYSP Czech Republic arranged a service project called “Tell me your story!” The goal of this project was to reach out and give love and hope to people living on the street. The first part of the project consisted of a clothes and food fundraiser. YSP volunteers went door to door, asking people for clothes and food donations, while explaining the cause. All of these precious gifts were organized and then brought to the main train station and given away to people living there. The purpose behind this service project was for YSP youth to learn about gratitude and highlight that through action they can easily brighten someone’s day by spreading love. To help them interact with the people, we prepared a few activities and one of these involved asking for testimonies from people living on the street.

Here are two short testimonies:

          “I felt like we could somehow climb up to a higher level. Instead of more than just giving homeless people clothes and food, we gave them something more internal and deeper — maybe something they needed much more than our external gifts. At the end, when we had no more clothes and food to give out, but we stayed with one group of homeless people and listened to their stories which were very personal. They shared their feelings of shame because of where they were and their regrets. The father of one of them said his son had disowned him. There we were, in front of these street people as they shared their deepest heart with tears in their eyes. We listened, hugged them, and tried to give them comfort. I was amazed at how easily and purely they trusted and talked to us. At the end, they waved and kept saying, ‘Thank you, you’re such amazing people.’ However, I felt sorry for not being able to give them more than the little we did.”
– Anna Slezáková

“I felt like through the thick layer of dirt, smell and pain, I could see their true selves which were so pure and beautiful. Their true selves came from God.”

– Anonymous volunteer IAYSP Czech Republic