Compassion Experience

Summary:
This Sunday I went to go see the Compassion Experience in San Francisco with my father. When we first arrived, we had no idea what we were getting ourselves into because the place is was at was a trailer. It didn't seem like their would be much inside. We waited in line and then eventually got called up next. When the lady came up to us she asked if it matter what story we went to go see, and my father and I said no. She gave us a standard iPhone and some headphones and told us to walk over to the bottom of the steps in front of a sign that said "Jey". We walked over, put the headphones on and then the lady gave us an "okay" to go inside. We walked in and the we could listen to the story through the headphones and the iPhone. We were about to learn about a boy named Jey who lived in the slums of Kenya. The first room we entered was his house. It was a small room that could comfortably fit 3 people at the most. As a kid, he had to sell drugs in order to eat. His mother, who sold goods and other items, was with him and their house was raided by the police and they were soon put on the "police list". Everything in their house was destroyed and now his mothers customers would not return. He was forced to move to his grandmothers place, which was the next room we visited. In this room, it was also very small. There was a plate of rice on a stand along with some pictures and mugs to drink out of. The pile of food was the best they had ever have. However, that food was split 15 different ways. So he was barely eating. At the time Jey was nine years old and since there was no food he would have to beg or steal, which were both illegal. It was easy to steal food but you could get in trouble. Begging at nine years old was hard because food is usually given to the cute, small children rather than the older kids. Jey was not getting much food. The next room we went to was Jey's new home...prison. At nine years old, Jey was in prison. He stole a pot of some sort to sell and got caught. In this room, there were prison bars, a toilet,  and some food on the floor. The food at the prison was bad and Jey would rather starve than eat that. However, he stayed longer than he thought he would so he had to eat. A boy threw up porridge on the floor and Jey said that all the boys "ran to the porridge on the floor to eat it". He prayed to God and needed him during this time and soon, his prayers were answered. He met with a judge who soon released him but the judge said "if I see you on the streets I will love you in again forever". The next room was the compassion program. It helped him pay for school and gave him free medicine and health care. This room was very bright and had a lot of colors. The youngest kids in the Compassion Center got sponsored and the more sponsors is better. Jey got a sponsor and then graduated from the Compassion Program and was now in the jobless corner. He started getting into music and dj's. He travels and sings about the true force of life and talks about Jesus. The last room was a room filled with childrens pictures and where they are located in the world to help make donations to sponsor a child to change a life...just like Jey.

Commentary:
Overall, I thought this was a great experience. My dad loved it as well. At first, I was a little un easy about it because from the looks of the outside, it didn't seem like it would be much. I loved how you could listen to Jey's voice through the headphones and also read what he said on the iPhone. Each room was shocking to me because they were so small. It was sad to see that that is how he lived. I don't know how I would manage to live in such a small room and split a plate of rice with 15 people. It really opened my eyes as you forget how people do not have the same things you have. It was a great experience and I have no complaints about it. The most significant part for me was the fact that when he moved with his grandmother he had to share one plate of rice with 15 people. That would mean each person would get maybe 2 spoonfuls of rice and that would not fill anyone up. It was very sad to see. Also, I took pictures during the event.

 the outside

The plate of rice shared

Toilet in prison