That human touch
Nica Huestegge
bringing your customers / employees / citizens into the center of your digital and sustainable transformation
To join a course I got to travel to Bengaluru, India. On our first day we got the chance to visit a NGO that colleagues are actively working with and supporting. Full disclosure: I do want your money at the end of this text!
I don't really need to vocalize how touching the visit to a center of underpriviledged children was, I guess. Of course it is new, it is involving and it is touching our inner selves whenever we connect with people from a very different background and with very different chances than ourselves. Those girls are by far not on the lowest end of the miserable scale from the vrey wealthy to the ridiculously poor, as my indian colleagues were reassuring me today.
What really struck me on Monday was the touch, the real, physical touch. There is no thing stronger to shake you on the inside that a gentle touch of a human being, openly showing the willingness and the joy to connect. The girls I got to know and spend time with did not only try to communicate with me inspite of language barriers to paint and workshop together, they also reached out to me to touch my arm, gently letting me know they want my attention on what they just drew, or tipping my knee to let me know how much they like my colorful dress.
My inner child, the person I was in that same age, instantly wanted to play and to cheer with them. My grown up self just wanted to, well, take them home with me, I believe. I struggle with the urge to take them out of a place where they do not get the treatment I can easily provide to my own shildren and the other connection I made that day, to the mothers. They are feeling blessed that they have girls that have better chances then they had themselves and I can so relate to that. as a mother, but also simply as someone with own dreams and aspirations.
I feel the need to share and all of us feel the need to act on those feelings. So, here is our fundraising - open only until Saturday morning 9 am Indian time since that is when we will hand over the money and finish the challenge we put on ourselves in this course.
Here is the link: https://www.gofundme.com/5l26avs
Now, giv'em all your money...