It has been four months since I started my volunteering journey with CorpsAfrica. The first thought I had in my mind was that I might not make it. But the people have the power to make someone feel welcome and at home and that’s what they did. They are the ones behind everyone’s success. People can make the best project and intervention because they are the case study, they know what happens.
Being in my community, I have experienced different people with different personas. Some need you to stroke their ego, and some need you to make them feel appreciated. I can safely say they are all important and within their rights. As a naive young man, I thought everybody was the same and we would deal with each other accordingly but to my surprise, I had to learn my perception of people differently.
When I say people, I mean the community members that I work with. The first time I arrived, they made sure we made the right introductions, and they made sure I knew every place in the community. The people themselves welcomed me to the village and offered their services to help in any way possible.
This is the superpower that they have not realized yet. They butter someone up so nicely that you can’t help but connect with them and be empathetic. I have learned one important thing about the people of the Tumbuka culture which is; that respect is paramount. Now how do we connect these aspects to patience?
Mindsets vary in every sense of the word, the same people who are very amazing can be kind of slow when it comes to thinking or taking action. This is where I as a CorpsAfrica Volunteer come in. It is not about how they think. It is about how you can help amplify their thinking to a level where you use their assets to their advantage. How they can help see something they deem as nothing to something?
This requires the utmost patience, empathy, and understanding. You have to know exactly what they want to say before they say it or even when they are saying it. You have to be available for them in a non-judgmental way every day. When you establish that connection, that is when you will realize the full potential of the people you are surrounded with. Wonders will happen, you will create magic.
Anyway, Tikusambila pachoko pachoko (I am learning little by little)
