Last week, we traveled to Honduras with Allmade, one of the partners we work with at We Are Kind. During the trip, we visited factories, spent time at a coffee farm, and learned more about the people and processes behind the garments we use.
But one experience stood out more than anything else. We visited an orphanage that Allmade has been supporting for several years.
From the moment we arrived, it was deeply moving. Kids of different ages welcomed us with so much energy. We played basketball and soccer, painted a mural together, shared a meal, and spent a few hours simply being present with them.
Shortly after we got there, they performed a traditional dance they had prepared for us. Some of them seemed a bit nervous. Others were more serious—maybe for the same reason. But there was one kid I couldn’t stop noticing. He didn’t stop smiling. And it wasn’t just a normal smile. It was the kind you feel. He smiled with his eyes, with his whole face, with his energy. He looked genuinely happy—like he was fully living that moment.
Later on, when we had more time to talk, I saw him again and decided to approach him.
I asked his name. Ángel.
We started talking, and he told me he had been living there since he was five. He’s now sixteen.
As he shared his story, he kept smiling. I was listening closely, fully present… but internally, I felt like I was about to break. I wanted to cry, but I didn’t want to do that in front of him. He was happy, smiling, speaking with a sense of pride. It felt strange to be more emotional about his story than he was.
He told me how grateful he felt to be there, that everyone in this place was his family, that he had everything he needed, that he was treated well, and that visits like ours made him really happy.
He also said that one of the things he loved most was seeing those who had left the home at 18 come back to visit. He talked about how meaningful it was to see them return—studying, working, some even with families of their own—and reconnect with a place that once gave them a home.
Ángel wasn’t asking for anything. He wasn’t complaining about anything. He was simply grateful.
After that conversation, I couldn’t help but reflect. Why is it that so many of us—often with much more—live focused on what’s missing? On what we don’t have, or what we wish we could change? We forget the basics.
This kid, who had been abandoned by his parents and was growing up in an orphanage, seemed more grounded, more grateful, and honestly, happier than many of the adults in that room.
And this isn’t about guilt. It’s a reminder. A reminder of how easy it is to lose perspective. How easy it is to disconnect from what we already have.
Sometimes, all it takes is stepping outside our usual environment—seeing other realities, hearing other stories—to reconnect with what truly matters.
Ángel may not have “everything”, but he has enough. And he knows it.
That day, I didn’t just take home a meaningful experience. I took home a clear lesson: appreciate more, complain less. Because more often than we realize, we already have what we need.
