Alyssa Bistonath Photography: Of Life After 24,

Two days before we left for Mexico Emily and I were stopped on the street by an elderly lady. She asked, “Where did you get that?” pointing at a ribbon-shaped pin I had on my jacket. “World Vision” I replied. She asked me where to buy one - she’d been looking for something like it for years. When I took it off and gave it to her she grabbed me and kissed my cheek. She told us that she had been in Canada for 25 years and that no one had ever given her anything for free. Looking back I consider this the beginning of our trip. The first of many women to tell us little bits of their stories and shower us with affection and grace.

Mexico was different than my other trips. First, travelling with Emily was a wild ride. I haven’t travelled internationally with her since we were 19 (she was with me the first time I travelled overseas). Also, the first time I travelled independent of an organization was to Mexico City. That was 7 years ago. I was desperate to see the world. I remember being on a tourist bus driving out to the pyramids looking longingly out the windows at the communites that whizzed by. I would have rather explored those communities than the pyramids.  I wanted to meet people - to talk to them and hear their stories,  but I didn’t have the means.

Returning to Mexico City under the banner of World Vision was a dream. The communities that I had longed to see years before were amazingly the ones that I had been sent to photograph. I finally found myself on the other side of that bus window eating and visiting with the families that lived in those communities. This time I was equipped with experience, support and time. I’m constantly amazed (and choked up) at how passions get placed and when the time is right you get brought back to them - to experience them fully.