mars 16, 2014

Of conquering fears and random acts of kindness

Anneliepompe Annelie Pompe, Deep everest blog, English, Entreprenörskap, Foto, foundation for happiness, Glädje, Havet, Inspiration, Rädsla, resa, sydafrika, Travels and thoughts appiness, charity, conquering fear, fear, hanli prinsloo, helping others is happiness, i am water, mozambique, ponto do oura, random act of kindness, snorkelling

I suddenly did things I’ve never done before. Things that frightened me. I know some of my fears might seem insignificant in comparison to what they did, but I’ve had my fears for a long time… I have a fear of big waves, a fear of getting water in my eyes and nose, and another fear of injuring my knee even more. And then suddenly the fears diminished and went away. Suddenly I had small children climbing like koalas over me, in high waves, putting their trust and lives in my hands. I got salty water in my eyes and nose and got pulled and tumbled by the big waves, without really noticing.

I am water, the foundation for ocean coservation was nominated for a #RAK ”random act of kindness”. The founder and one of my best friends, Hanli Prinsloo got the idea to take the kids at the orphanage in Punto do Ouro in Mozambique snorkelling in the sea. They live some 100 meters from the beautiful sea, but many of them cannot swim and some believe that the ”sea belongs to the rich white people”. Could it be more wrong than that? The I am Water trust believes in conservation through human experience. If you love the sea as much as we do, you will hopefully make an effort to help.

The kids were very afraid at first, their small hands hanging on to us for all their worth. But after some time they started to relax and laugh. As we were finishing up they all threw themselves fearlessly into the shallows. When we walked up the sand dunes back to the orphanage I was talking to Hanli as a small black hand suddenly appeared in mine and squeezed it. It was the smallest girl with the biggest eyes, and a beautiful smile.

Helping others will make you stronger and better than you really are. The ones you are helping will be stronger and better just because you are there. It is an amazing exchange.