Volunteering work isn't easy, especially when you are not getting a penny from it (what am I even saying). Well, everything I just said above has to do with "volunteering," something you do without any expectation of return on anything. You just do it with your whole heart, with a smiling face to wrap it up.
I remember growing up when my mum would tell us to go help our neighbor run errands for her around the house; you'd see us frowning like our faces wanted to pull out. Then my mum would be like, "You don't know doing these things has its own reward for you later." Those were her words, and even after frowning, we'd still grumble and find our way to the neighbor's house. I didn't know the importance of such volunteering services till recently.
I wanted to say I did volunteer work during my service year (but nope). Don't laugh. So last year, I was at home chilling with myself when my aunty called me and said that I should hurry to her house; deep down, I thought something happened, so I rushed to put on some clothes and headed to her place. Her place is kind of trekkable, but because of the way she sounded, I had to take a cab there.
I got to the house and saw her walking around and arranging things; immediately, I was shocked and was like, "Are you okay?" She replied, "Yes I am, don't I look it?" At that moment, I didn't question further, then she said, "We are going to help somebody who just moved into her house clean." I replied, "Huh?" Now I wasn't expecting that.
She knew if she had told me that on the phone, I would look for an excuse not to go, but she had to use a technique to get me there. So I couldn't decline since I was already at her place; after arranging things for a while, we decided to move.
We got to the destination; the building was a very big one; we entered and were welcomed by the lady. She took my aunty inside while I, on the other hand, looked for somewhere to relax my bum while waiting for her to come out. After a few minutes, she came, and it was time to clean. We started from the first floor. I was in charge of the sweeping department while my aunty was mopping.
Then the lady was outside packing out the huge dirty from the premises. After we were done with the first floor, I was a little tired because, with my years of sweeping, I hadn't swept such a big house before; being new to the game, "Let me say I was scared," but then my aunty kept encouraging me, to continue. Those words kept me going till we were done cleaning the whole house.
When the lady entered the house and saw how clean it was, she got down on her knees and with teary eyes started thanking my aunty, showering her with words of prayer, then she moved to me, held my hands, and said "thank you,, my daughter and God bless you" I replied "Amen" then my aunty assisted her in getting her up. The lady offered to give us some money for transportation, but my aunt rejected it and said it was okay.
It was on our way back home when I asked my aunty how she got to know the lady and why she had to come here to clean.
She said the lady was her classmate back then in senior secondary school, they've known each other for years. When the lady's husband died, life was hard on her; since she hadn't given birth for her husband, his family threw her out of the house. But then, luckily, the husband had a will, and she got to inherit a huge amount of money, and that is what she used in building this house.
So when she said the building was being completed and she wanted to start cleaning, I told myself I was gonna come to help her in the cleaning, that's why I came with you to see things for yourself.
The experience taught me that when I volunteer to do things for others, I got see another perspective of the world around me, that moment I learned that I can make someone's day and put a bright smile on their face because I saw that lady's face how she reacted when she saw the house, the tears rolling down her cheeks shows how grateful she was even without saying those emotional words.
Thanks for reading 🧡
