"Steemit Engagement Challenge S9-W3: "Kindness that changed my life"

Greetings friends of the steem for a better life community. Welcome to my blog as I share my entry in the Act of Kindness contest. To me, an act of kindness is any gesture either material, financial, or mental support, etc wo do willingly to those in need.

I have been involved in many acts of kindness and I am happy to share my experience in this contest. I will do this following the guidelines given below.

What was the act of kindness that impacted your life? Describe the situation

I have never been in the receiving end but rather on the giving end. As a humanitarian and human rights worker, I have been involved in several acts of kindness within the communities with persons with disabilities, with indigenous vulnerable women during COVID-19, sex workers, with orphans, etc.

During the outbreak of COVID-19, these persons with disabilities were more vulnerable and needed more information and assistance to protect themselves from getting contaminated.

I and my team visited those communities to sensitize and share some items (face masks, hand sanitisers, buckets, etc) to help protect themselves. We informed them about the WHO measures to ensure their safety.

We equally visited orphanages and assisted to clean the environment with disinfectants. Later on, we play soccer together with the kids which made them happy. We equally share some food items with the kids for snacks.

What were the emotions you were feeling at that time?

Surprise: This was the first emotion I got when I visited the orphanage. I never knew a huge number of kids are somewhere without their biological parents.

Shocked: I was shocked when I heard some of the circumstances that led to the kids being orphans or disabled. Some of the kids lost their parents during the Anglophone crisis in my country. They were either killed by state militia or the separatist soldiers.

Amusement: Even in sadness, I was amused by the way the kids interact and play as if they came from the same womb. We played soccer together and the kids were so happy.

How did that act impact you? (Financially, emotionally, etc.)

Even though I was out doing my job, the pay package we got was not encouraging. The reason why I considered it an act of kindness is that we were paid almost nothing for the job done.

Notwithstanding, emotionally, I was saddened with the conditions of some of the vulnerable groups. For instance, one of the sex workers told us what pushed her into peostitution was poverty. She fled from the village, attacked by separatists fighters and the state militias. Her husband was killed and she was not empowered educationally or had any skills to care for her kids. She went to the streets begging and got involved into sex work just to have money to care for her kids and herself.

What are the lessons you learned from that incident? Did it change your perspective on kindness and the way you treat others?

The first lesson I learned was never to laugh at soneone’s predicaments because we never know how tomorrow will treat you. The kids did not apply to become orphans, some of the sex workers did not dream to one day become sex workers. Circumstances forced them into what they never applied for.

Last lesson learned was that bkthjng is too small to help someone in need. Just playing soccer with the kids made them happy and contributes a lot to their mental health.

Did you manage to pass it forward by showing kindness to others? How?

Of course, it us now a routine for me doing acts of kindness to different people. I have help some people of recent with financial assistance. One of them is a man of about 60 years who has been living with bullets in his jaws shot during the anglophone crisis.

He has been send to Nigeria for a surgery and he requested for financial help. I discussed it with my sisters and we contributed to support him for the surgery.

It is not a huge amount but with love, he valued it and was so happy to receive the support.

I will use this opportunity to challenge my friends @solaymann @mesola, @waterjoe and @fadlymatch to share their entries to this challenge.