Dana Perino: I needed to reset my heart

I was suffocating from superficiality. I needed to reset my heart, so I booked a trip to visit Mercy Ships. The ship held a party for kids from a orphanage called Arbre de Vie, which means "tree of life". The couple that runs the orphanage is from Ohio. Ashley and John Reeves. (Erin Landers)

One of my favorite teachers is Miss Beth Kirchner, who used to work for Disney and can draw Mickey for her students to color in.  (Erin Landers)

(Erin Landers)

Peter said it wasn't really “surfing.” It was more like “fell off a short board over and over again.” The waves are rough in West Africa, but the temperature was perfect. (Erin Landers)

The most powerful event was a New Dress ceremony held for three women who had their fistulas repaired on the ship. (Erin Landers)

The children saw us and the camera equipment and in unison they asked for what kids the world over want – a selfie!  (Erin Landers)

One of Timmy Baskerville's photos.

I got a photograph from behind as they all gathered at the sea, many of them seeing the ocean for the first time.  (Erin Landers )

I wished them well -- that they'd have peace and opportunity and that they'd keep giggling like that. (Erin Landers )

There was a girl named Anna Psiaki. Tall and willowy, long blond hair. She's from upstate New York, one of nine children. She's a writer on the ship -- a poet, too.  (Erin Landers)

Caleb Biney interviews U.S. Ambassador, Lucy Tamlyn, for an article for Scholastic’s News Kids magazine.  (Erin Landers)