What is the point of it all? Why do we keep on doing this small and random acts of kindness that don’t seem to make any difference?
If you have been watching the news and following our adventures, you might have noticed that, more often than we would wish, we seem prone to danger. Paris, Brussels, Berlin and London. Three amazing cities that have received us so well, were brutally struck by terror within days of our visits. And coming home, still in love with all the beauty we had experienced, just to watch the news and see these terrible crimes is absolutely heart wrenching. We actually survived the Paris Terrorist Attacks and experienced firsthand the terror of hatred. An experience that forever changed us.
But that is exactly the point. We will never stop. And as long as people can stay united and share small acts of kindness with strangers, there will still be hope. And love. And reasons to keep believing.
The first time we ever travelled, we went to Rome. We were just kids in college, saving every possible cent in order to pay for my dream destination. Bruno made it all possible by being so persistent and never giving up. He made every research, every call, everything! Turns out that months and months of saving money and avoiding unnecessary costs paid off, and our trip was a major success. We knew, in that moment, we were in this world for a reason. To travel, to be overwhelmed with beauty and to learn all the lessons our adventures could teach us. To see different people and different cultures, to breath different air.
And that was a big lesson: to learn that persistence bears fruits. And that small acts can cause a great impact and bring great results.
We wish to apply this same method in our RAKs. We hope our random acts of kindness can have the power to inspire others to do good deed around the world and we want to show everybody that the best way to fight hate is to spread love. Even if you do it in small amounts at a time. Just like our savings for Rome.
In December 2016, when we were strolling through Berlin’s streets and contemplating the gorgeous Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church, we found a humble lady sitting in the floor, asking for money in the middle of one of Germany’s many fantastic Christmas Markets. Knowing that we needed to help her in some way, we immediately bought some food and offered it to her. She questioned us if it had pork meat, and when we told her no, she immediately thanked us and ate the bread. We realized her religion must prevent her from eating that particular food and we found it admirable, that even in a situation of poverty she would respect her beliefs.
We returned to Portugal on the 12th of December and just a week later – on December 19th – we watched the news and the worst had happened. 12 people were killed and 56 others injured by a truck deliberately driven into that same place where we had tried to share our love with a kind stranger.
Today, we want to leave a message of persistence. A message of hope. Not all the hate in the world can defeat the strength of millions and millions of small acts of kindness. And when we think of that place, a symbol of Berlin’s own strength and resilience, we choose to remember it as a marvelous square where kindness is abundant. That is the memory we must preserve, the memory of goodness over evil. A message that a country like Germany knows too well, and that we hope we can help others around the world to comprehend it too.
What are your thoughts about this random acts of kindness? Let us know on the comments below!
