Mindset of Helping Each Other

Mindset of Helping Each Other

One afternoon during my volunteering experience at OTEPIC in Kitale, Kenya heavy rains set in. It was the onset of the rainy season. We gathered in a small hut on the premise to have lunch in nearly complete darkness. The hut had neither a window nor electricity.

After the rain, it had gotten cold and everybody wanted to go home to get there safely before dark. So we started walking on the muddy road. Suddenly we saw a motor-cycle driver with heavy load. He slit from one side of the road to the other because the road had become as slippery as European roads in the winter. Finally, he got completely stuck in the ditch on one side of the road.

Immediately the OTEPIC crew went to help him. It was really difficult since the motor cycle couldn’t find grip anywhere. One of the sacks started to burst. It was filled with corn. The man was a corn broker who had come to the countrysite to buy corn from the farmers and sell it to customers. These middle-men are not exactly friends of the farmers since they give them a really hard time by dumping commodity prices to gain more profit. That didn’t keep the OTEPIC crew, obviously all farmers, from helping the man. Despite the cold and the approaching darkness, they stuffed the hole in the sack with leaves. They helped him until we reached another road that was traversable by motor cycle.

I have the impression that many people are very helpful and cooperative. That is one thing I really like about Kenyan culture.

Watch the video to see this event and the road conditions:

 

For more information about OTEPIC visit www.otepic.org.

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