Inviting the unfamiliar

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Inviting the Unfamiliar” font_container=”tag:h2|text_align:left|color:%2381d742″ use_theme_fonts=”yes”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]“I chose to do what many girls in my community will not do. You see in my Masaai community girls’ education is not that important that’s why we are married off at a very early age. Those who are lucky to pursue education they don’t take up ‘men’ careers like I have done. So when I decided to become a tour guide and a driver my family considered me an outcast, they almost disowned me and up to today I don’t have a relationship with my father. I understand why he feels disappointed; I brought shame on him and has nothing to show about me according to our culture. I am, however, determined to show my father and my community that girls have rights too” .As Ann Tumpesia, my Tour Guide, said all this she did not take her eyes off the murky terrain that we had to cruise during this wet morning game drive at the Masaai Mara Game Reserve.  She also elicited high level of confidence being in control of the four wheel land cruiser that had just the two of us on board. For some reason I felt safer oblivious to the fact that she was a stranger in unfamiliar environment.

It happened that this was my last day at the camp and I desired to have a game drive before embarking on my journey back home. However, after a whole night of heavy rains, I didn’t think this would be possible until the camp administrator assured me it can be done. He went further to introduce me to my guide cum driver who, to my surprise, was a young lady standing next to me with a beautiful smile ready to offer the needed service. That was Tumpesia and within no time we were on the road penetrating through the savanna, the mud and the floods notwithstanding. Before we hit the bush, Tumpesia was clear on what to expect; ‘I will see all the animals there is to see’, ‘I will be safely driven’ and ‘I will be a happy customer’. This was accomplished as she talked freely with me you would mistake us for old friends. “You know I was so happy to be awarded the Tour Guide of the Year by the company”, her final words as Tumpesia escorted me back to the camp.

Mission was accomplished with a plus; I had loads of lessons to learn from the young lady. Our two hour moment beat one semester in class learning a module I would call “Inviting the unfamiliar”. I’ll share three; First, Tumpesia knew too well that going against the norm would attract rejection and ridicule from her own people, but she did it anyway. Two, while it was more comfortable to stay within the limits she risked being different-She stepped out of her comfort zone. Three, she trained herself to thrive in new ways and as William Faulkner puts it she realized that “She cannot swim for new horizons until she has courage to lose sight of the shore”.  “When I started to support my family financially, they began to respect me; they now look at me differently. My mission is to encourage girls to go to school; I even pay fees for those whose parents can’t afford”

There is a story in the Bible where Jesus asked Simon to do the unusual. Fishing in broad daylight is pretty pointless. The best times to fish are late into the night or very early in the morning which is what Simon and his companions had done. Here Jesus comes (a carpenter, mind you) and is telling Simon (the master fisherman) that he needs to cast the net and fish again. Luke 5:4 “When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.” It is no wonder that Simon’s excuses flowed so easily, “…We haven’t caught anything all night” but then in the end he complies, “..But because you say so, I will let down the nets” What happens when Simon complies by ‘launching into the deep’? They were astonished at the size of the catch of fish (see Luke 5:9)!

The deep is where you will find a whole lot of fish. You won’t find them near the shore in shallow waters. But to launch out into the deep is to move away from the comfort of the shoreline-It is to ‘Invite the unfamiliar’ like Tumpesia my friend and Simon in the Bible did. You, too, would you chose today to move out of your comfort zone and launch into the deep-Invite the unfamiliar? You will be astonished at your catch![/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”835″][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Mary Kamore is the Founder and Lead Consultant, M_OliveS Mentors[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]