I am a sucker for sob stories. I have listened to them by the truckload. I have cried over some of these stories. I have gone into my pocket and given. There have been times I have stood in front of the mirror looking for the badge on my forehead that says “sucker”!'
I particularly remember one day in early January, 2008 calm was just returning in the streets of Nairobi after the post election chaos. I was going to the salon to have my hair done when I met this old man who gave me the story of how together with his family they had lost everything in the clashes in Eldoret. He was living in Jamhuri Park with a large family and a new born grandchild. The grandchild bit did it for me. Right there and then I decided my beauty treatment could use some trimming. I gave him some money. The life of a child was at stake!
A couple of months later, I met this guy again. This time his story was that he had travelled from upcountry to see his son but upon arrival to the young man’s office, he was told the guy had travelled and now he had nowhere to go. He had used the little man he had coming to Nairobi and now he had no money to go back home nor did he have a place to spend the night.
Did I ever mention I have the memory of an elephant? May be even the body size of one but hey, my size is not today’s topic!
I asked him if they had moved out of Jamhuri Park. He looked at me puzzled. I reminded him that in January he had lied to me he was an internally displaced person. Then again, he really was an IDP, intentionally dodgy person.
As I stood there looking at him, I was not angry. That was surprising for me. I expected to be angry but I was not! Was I losing my ability to lose it?
Instead, I felt sorry for the guy.
Then I remembered a commitment I made sometime back.I had purposed a couple of years before to listen to all sob stories.
Growing up in Nairobi, street families were a common sight. Large crowds of parking boys were a scary norm. It was common to pass by and given them some coins to buy something. Sometimes to even buy them bread and milk when I felt sufficiently philanthropic. Fast forward many years later and there was a time when hawkers and street families had taken over the alleys in town. One evening as I was coming from work, my watch was snatched, ok more like ripped off my wrist and as I absorbed the shock, I resigned myself to being a statistic of Nairoberry and at the same time thanked God that I still had my bag. The next day, as I was walking home, some guy calls me by my nickname. Now, that is a name only known by guys who grew up in my neighborhood. He told me that he was sure I could not remember him but he was among the parking boys that I had bought for milk and bread in years past. He was now all grown up and was hawker, he even had a stall in town. His name was Zakayo. He had witnessed the snatching of my watch the previous day and he was here to return my watch. So much about hawkers and street families not having boundaries.
It was one of the few times in my life I was left speechless!
So you see, I will continue listening to sob stories. Of course there are those times that I can tell when am being conned. When a story sounds kinda familiar. When I can poke holes in a story. When there is something wrong with the picture.
I decided that yes, I may be conned but what if that one person was genuine? What if their story was real?
I have learnt to decide that if they have conned me out of some coins then that is between them and their god. Between me and my God, I will do what I am convicted to do.
I can openly confirm that people have been very gracious to me in so many ways. People have held my hand. People have given to me in kind and otherwise. Strangers have given to me. Strangers have been used by God to light my path.
It befalls me to light the path for someone.
If someone has ever done anything for you, do something for someone, a stranger or a friend without any intention of collecting on your “investment”.
Human beings were not created to be self-sufficient. We will always need each other. God uses people to bless others.
Nothing you do will be in vain. Do not be jaded by all the fraudsters out there.
I have chosen not to harden my heart.
Forget the skeptics.
Ignore the cynics.
They must not win.
Blessings y’all!
