It means on a daily basis I meet people like Kate Fletcher, who shows it’s never too late to make the world a better place.
Kate was 68 years old when her husband died. She was grieving and alone, never having had children. So what did she do? She Googled, “Where does one go to love children?”
When “Nairobi, Kenya” came up, this amazing woman from Pittsburgh simply said, “Alrighty, then. Nairobi it is.”
She sold her house, gave away her car and off she went to Nairobi. Her first stop was volunteering at an orphanage. Two years in, Kate realized she was meant to start her own home for girls.
Never mind that she was now 70 years old living on a very limited income, she had found her purpose.
She returned to the States, made a tour of churches, set up a board, and Hekima Place was born. It is now home to 60 girls, ages 6 months to 20 years. The girls are fed, clothed, educated and, most of all, loved.
Can you see where I’m going with this? It’s all well and good to tell and celebrate these kinds of stories. But you might think, “I don’t have what it takes to sell off my life and move to Africa! ”
That’s part of Kate’s brilliance. She showed me I don’t have to. It’s perfectly fine to piggyback on someone else’s greatness.
It took months of e-mail correspondence to put together the story on Kate and Hekima Place for my website. Kate ended each e-mail with, “You really should come visit us here in Kenya.”
And each time I grumbled to myself, “I’m not going to Kenya. I don’t have the time or resources for that!”
But something interesting happened as we approached the 2008 holidays. I was single and sad about piecing together another season of celebration bouncing around other people’s homes. I tried on the idea, “Maybe I could go to Kenya?”
I sent Kate an e-mail saying if it was OK, I’d like to come for two weeks over Christmas and New Year’s.
“Most of the girls will be off with extended family members,” she replied. “However, 13 of our sweet girls have not a soul in the world. If the idea of spending Christmas with them sounds good, then, yes, please come!”
Did that sound good? I couldn’t imagine a better invitation existed anywhere. So off I went to Kenya and the best Christmas I ever spent.
What can I say about precious little girls who delight in the single present they receive on Christmas morning? How will I ever forget the way each one opened her gift so tenderly, so as not to rip the paper? I’d never seen a child look at even the wrapping paper as a treasure. They knew what I didn’t — that paper would be used again.
For the rest of the two weeks, the girls showed me that girls are the same all around the world. We swam, played on swings, had tea parties with biscuits made of Play-Doh, and played house with baby dolls. We also did the exotic. We pet giraffes and I let the girls giggle as I tasted their native cuisine — dishes like ugali. Think grits, Kenyan-style.
How could I ever thank Kate for such a wonderful Christmas and experience? I felt so indebted to this great woman.
It was toward the end of the trip that she shared a secret with me. She, too, had been stressing over these holidays. She had goofed and given too many of the staff time off to spend with their families. It was only going to be her and Gladys Mina, her Kenyan program director. They’re both magnificent women, but 13 little girls at Christmas was way too much for her and Gladys to handle.
Kate shared that she had been praying for an answer to help with holiday staffing. That was the day she received my e-mail.
“You were the answer to my prayer,” Kate insisted.
That’s how I learned that all levels of giving are important. Some of us are meant to give up everything and go big. And some of us are meant to piggyback on their greatness.
Please consider that the next time you want to make a difference in the world. The hour of your time, the small monetary donation — it all matters. It’s about finding the size that fits your life.
All those amazing people doing big things — they need us as much as the world needs them.
Daryn Kagan is the creator and host of DarynKagan.com, an online community that features a daily Web cast of inspirational stories that show what is possible. The former CNN anchor and news reporter is the author of "What's Possible! 50 True Stories of People Who Dared To Dream They Could Make a Difference."
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