| By Claire Kanja |
“I know you from somewhere…”
A phrase that is deemed cliché and insincere. Only this time, it introduced a conversation that instantaneously warmed my heart on a chilly April morning during a COP activity at Hanne Howard Fund, Lenana. Her name is Stella, a beneficiary of the Hanne Howard Fund. As she spoke those words, I was left pensive as I tried to figure out where that could have come from. “St. Ursula’s” That demystified everything.
St. Ursula’s was one of the schools we visited during the mentorship for high school girls in Kitui Work Camp earlier in March. She told me that she remembered me going to her form 3 class and chatting with them during one of the session breaks. That encounter with her was so crazy and unexpected! Meeting someone several weeks later, so many kilometres away and having them appreciate a word you shared with them, really did spike my humility.
I felt a great sense of contentment later that day, when, somewhere in between rinsing clothes and friendly debates with my washing buddies, I looked up and saw people dispersed in different corners of the compound, all doing something constructive; engaging the younger ones in games and art, rolling chapatis, peeling potatoes, hanging clothes, just to name a few. The realisation that we were all doing very different tasks yet at the same time, were linked by ONE unifying factor which is love and concern for others was a hallmark of the experience.
COP activities always serves as a learning experience, I got to learn how to play a couple of keys on the organ and to relearn how to skip (enter the rotation without banting*). You never know the impact giving your time to others may have on them or yourself, I can attest to this! You should give it a shot
