Community

I was born and have been raised most of my life in Zambia.  Many of you will probably not have heard of Zambia before.  It is a beautiful country in the Southern part of Africa. Not only is its vegetation unique, but the people have something distinct and special and yet they have aspects that are characteristic of Africa and the human nature.  

Growing up in the community that I did, one was constantly hammered on the fact that we were lucky to be raised in the environment that we were as kids of parents that made a good income.  It was at times eerie to realise how the two worlds of rich and poor, though so well intertwined could at the same time live so parallel to each other. 

The school I went to emphasized on community service and I am very glad that they did.  On top of that, my parents too have always shown to us that it is for the greater good of all of us to help whoever you can.  As a result, we came in constant contact with those that were less well off than we were.  There are many lessons that I have learnt which I hope to share with you.

There are several aspects of my encounters that have left an impact on how I think and act today.  I was once a member of the lions club who ran a parking lot near the saturday market.  We were left in charge of guarding the cars and making sure people paid for the security.  The money we collected all went to street kids.  Now one of these kids at one point in time came to me asking for money.  I got very cross because he knew I was collecting money for him and still he would come and ask me to give him money that I might personally have on me.  Little did I know that he was simply testing me.

I told him that I wasn't standing here for me and that the money I was collecting would go to him indirectly.  The lad smiled and offered me some money that he had on his pocket and said he wanted me to have it.  Naturally, I refused.  Later he came back with a traditional drink and told me I had to share it with him.  Now this was an offer that would be rude to refuse and I was humbled by his gesture.

Another story that I wont ever forget is the time I got stuck at Nairoby airport.  It was a flight with a nightstop in Nairoby and the airline was to have arranged a hotel for me.  I won't go too much into detail, but the next day transportation was to pick me up to go to the airport.  This never happened and I had to share a cab with a very nice gentleman and his girlfriend.  They appeared to have come from Cyprus and were touring Africa.  We had agreed to share the fees.

Unfortunately for me, I was a fraction too late to catch my flight.  There I was with insufficient funds to buy a new ticket.  I had missed my flight due to circumstances that were not in my hands!  The airline representative was not very willing to help me along.  I got to hear that there was a flight the next day to my destination (the last flight of that week), and I'd have to pay $100 for it.  I did not have that kind of money in my pocket.  The gentleman from Cyprus was with me all this time but he was running late for his flight.  He reached into his pocket, gave me $200 and a piece of paper with his bank account number and told me to pay him back whenever I could. 

I think  I can write many more stories that convinced me the power of helping each other.  But these two are in my eyes very good examples as to why indeed we should be there for one another.  My good childhood friend Lilay Berhane is a person that is making work of his passion.  His mission in life is to cultivate people to sustain themselves.  I have asked him to write articles about the community and he has agreed to write some of his ideas on the community and development.