One beautiful thing I like about acts of kindness is the impact it creates on people's lives. It can uplift mood, inspire gratitude, unite people, heals relationships, transform lives and perspectives.
There are some acts of whose impact are so powerful that they leave a mark or memory that can last one a life time.
I have experienced such and that I'll share with you.
This happened during my tertiary instution years. I was in school one day and a call from an unknown number came in. I picked, said "hello", and the caller a male, started speaking one of the native languages we have here, yoruba to be precise. When he paused, I told him that the call might have diverted because I wasn't the person he wanted to speak with. He said "then give her the phone". I replied "it was my phone" and that he might have to check the number to ensure he didn't miss any. He hung up.
Few minutes later, his call came in again, I picked up and he said "not again, what is happening?. I asked if he was sure the number was correct and he said yes. He sounded so anxious which prompted me to ask if everything was okay. He said he needed to reach the person he was calling, a lady, because there was an issue to be handled urgently. Seeing how helpless a situation he was in, I told him that it might be a network glitch so he shouldn't fret, but rather give it time and then either send an sms or call back again, hopefully by then he'll connect to her. He heaved a sigh, thanked me and hung up.
Later that day, he called again, saying he was able to reach the lady and the issue has been taken of. But the surprising thing was that both of us had same number!. How possible could that be, that's unusual.
Well, I was glad to hear that everything was okay because I was a bit worried about the whole situation, even though he was a stranger. He then introduced himself and I did same. We talked for a while and said goodbye but I was wrong.
He became a regular caller, not like everyday o but once in a while to check on me. On one of the days he called, he asked about school and how I was faring. I told him that the school management gave "lecture free days" for some days so students who are yet to pay their tuition fee could rally round and do so before the upcoming examination. Unfortunately I hadn't completed mine and there was no hope of doing it anytime soon because home was tight, and the freelancing job I was doing then has been terminated. So I was just stuck, although not hopeless.
His next question was "how much is the fee?", I told him and he said "send your account details". I was like "no sir, you don't have to bother yourself", but he hushed me, ending with "I'm expecting it now" and hung up. My friend who was with me then asked what the caller wanted and after telling her, she encouraged me to send it since he was the one who requested for it. Reluctantly I sent the details to him and within minutes, I received a credit alert, more than the amount I told him, followed by an sms "use the rest for your other needs". Seeing the figures, I screamed, jumped up and hugged my friend. I showed her the alert and she too joined in the shouting, lol. After the screaming, I called him to express my heartfelt gratitude. In fact when I opened my mouth to speak, words refused to come out only tears of joy. I felt momentary speechlessness from the shock of his kind gesture. Well I managed to get some words out and equally sent an sms to him thereafter.
It has been more than two decades this happened, but the memory of act of kindness is still evergreen. It's not like this was the only act of kindness I have experienced before, but the impact of his own was more than deep. It was a life saver. This is someone I haven't seen before, didn't even know much about him but he made this huge sacrifice to ensure I didn't miss my exams. I call it a sacrifice because I know what it was to earn such amount of money then.
Although I was hoping to get the fees from home, I wasn't sure when it would come. it can be when the exams might have commenced or even after. It then means that I might miss some of the papers, if not all because the management was bent on instituting "no fee payment, no exams", and you know what that means - carry overs which will drastically affect my performance in the next session. Not only that, the sadness and emotional stress would have weighed me down but his act of kindness saved the day. It lifted a heavy burden off my shoulder, brought untold joy, happiness and relief not only to me, but my family. I paid the fees, took the exam and excelled. In fact the money went a long way to help me throughout that session.
In times of need, help (kindness) can come from anywhere.
Thank you for reading!
This is my entry for Thoughtful Thursday Prompt 18
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