I have been fed by strangers many times on the Race. Today began as another such experience, and we didn’t think anything of traveling to this stranger’s house to eat lunch. We sat down and ate her nshema with rice and rape leaves. It was all very lovely, and Olive welcomed us as though we were her own grandchildren. After retiring 10 years ago from nursing, Olive organized a sewing group for widows and it was through this group that we’d met her.
When our meal was had and we were all lounging about her front room drinking glass bottle cokes, Olive’s 7 month old grandbaby was brought to her. He was certainly an adorable little chunk and in no time at all he was on Kelsey’s back in a chetenge, bouncing and giggling like a fool. To this point Olive had been rather quiet – not in an awkward way. Although we were in her living room eating her food and drinking her coke she simply hadn’t forced the conversation to focus on her. But as Kelsey bounced her grandbaby (whose name translated to “Fellowship with Others”, by the way), she took great delight in his laughter. “We are jumping, we are jumping!” she cried over and over and danced and clapped for him. I saw her as woman of great character who rested in a state of being pleased.
Coffee was brought in, the child was taken out again, and Olive began to speak. She wove a great, long story of her life’s work in Malawi as a nurse. Many times she’d been offered to be flown to New York, Denmark and Asia to work but she truly loved her country and felt blessed to have received a training that could really benefit her own people. She talked about the treatment of HIV positive patients 20 years ago and the vision she had for improvement through home visits and a hospice center. Olive turned these dreams into a reality by building up an extensive volunteer home visit program throughout Lilongwe and renovating a lighthouse. The last seven years of her employment she worked tirelessly without any holiday. She was a woman filled with energy who was truly excellent at her work. By the time she was ready to retire her supervisors begged her to stay.
Although Olive’s story lasted maybe an hour and a half, it felt like 10 minutes because of her detail and animation. The entire time she stared directly at me, as though she knew I was wondering what it would be like for me to work with someone like her towards such an end. My heart was moved and my head was filled with dreams. By the time she finished I felt as though I’d lived it all myself. She walked us all the way out of her neighborhood to the main road to catch a bus, and we hugged her goodbye.
It’s days like these that I’m overwhelmed by my amazing life. Seemingly out of nowhere, my life intersected with Olive’s for these few short hours. I’d never met her before and will probably never see her again, but I will treasure this memory because she truly made a difference on my life. She filled up my head and my heart just by being herself. Olive. Remember that you can have a huge impact on those around you. And you can be impacted greatly if you let yourself.
