Chance Encounter

This week has reminded me of the power of a chance encounter. Having been in Zambia for nearly 7 weeks now and not having my own specific placement site, sometimes it's easy to feel like I'm floating through and not really making the difference I foresaw before coming here. Everyday varies as I head out to a different site, supporting the students as they deliver PE lessons, Girls in Action workshops and coaching sessions. But this week two moments have happened that, if I'm honest, made me smile quite a lot and reminded me of the power of a chance encounter.

Everyday we meet 100s of kids, we sing songs and dance and have the same conversation time and time again... "Hello, how are you? I'm fine thank you, how are you? Fine!" And sometimes it becomes repetitive but these moments reminded me that every conversation, every chat, every encounter can have a greater impact than we can ever understand.

The 'Minions'

Whilst on the truck tour on Tuesday we visited every site and one of those site was Chipata, where I hadn't been able to visit apart from a handful of times during Group 1. During one of those visits, I spent half an hour with the pre-school group which we fondly nicknamed The Minions, you'll understand when you see the photos. When returning this week I was walking towards the basketball court when I heard someone shout my name, on turning around I saw this little girl, no older than 5 running towards me smiling. She jumped on me shouting Grace, Grace, Grace! I didn't know her name but recognised her face, but my biggest delight came simply from the fact she knew my name. One meeting, only half hour spent with about 30 of them, singing songs, counting and dancing, of which most they just shouted back at me. But that encounter was enough to leave an imprint in this young girl's memory that she knew my name! It made me feel like I'm actually adding value, a much needed gentle reminder.

My second encounter or gentle reminder came when I popped to the Big Green Box to buy my lunch of nshima and chicken. For those who don't know I'm quite a fan of nshima and have found a place near each placement site that sells it, this one near the Sport in Action office. On popping in the lady at the counter's first words were, "Hello Grace, I've missed you". I didn't even have to say anything but she remembered me, she remembered my name and was genuinely interested in finding out where I had been and what I had been doing. 

The power of a chance encounter was evident and has reminded me that everyday we have conversations, sometimes brief, but in those moments we should give our efforts to those we speak too as we should never underestimate what that moment can bring. Two gentle, much needed reminders have highlighted the impact we can all have both here in Zambia, at home or wherever we are in the world. A simple conversation, a smile, a wave, costs nothing but gives so much!