January 16 - Human Connection

Wow - these layouts are amazing . . . the stories inspiring. What a great reminder that . . . moments, truly matter.

 

I hope this is ok. We made a connection with a neighbour we didn't know very well through a dropped cell phone when she came back to our house to return it.

 

Good one

 

A chance meeting because her son invited my daughter (when they were in eighth grade) to a church overnight/fun night (boy were his parents surprised!) resulted in a great friendship!

 

I *think* I got the spirit of this challenge with this documentation. It's a story I hadn't thought about scrapping, but my daughter trots out the chestnut on occasion (forgetting who the "famous person" was, but thinking it an amusing story...)

 

This was tough, but good. It needed to come out. Thanks for this challenge. Journaling copied below.



One of the wonderful things I get to do for Zumba® is teach new instructors how to teach. Normally, I train instructors face-to-face in the northwest USA. COVID allowed me to train anyone who could access the internet. We would never meet in person, just little squares on a screen, and occasional emails to share their dance journeys.


June 7, 2020, I had a trainee log in from Kenya – Phylo Ochola. She had a beautiful reason for becoming an instructor. Fighting uterine cancer, she planned to teach Zumba Gold to cancer patients at the hospital that paid for her training. She donated her time, and ZIN from all over the world fundraised to pay for her monthly instructor fees. Even as she got sicker and went through rounds of chemo, she continued to teach.


Phylo kept in touch with me. High school in Kenya is not free, and usually involves boarding school. She couldn’t afford both chemotherapy and to send her youngest son, David, to high school. Her cancer was terminal, and she wanted a safe place for her son during treatment and decline. I organized a “Zumbathon,” a fundraiser 100% via the internet, to do a 90 minute dance class to help pay for David’s schooling. I hosted and taught most of the class, with special appearance by Phyo for several songs.


Over 100 people attended our online dance class, from all over the world. The support was amazing – friends of mine, friends of Phylo, Zumba fans, friends of friends. I knew less than 1/3 of the dancers. In total, we made just over $1,000, and when I added in my donation, we had enough money to fund David’s entire first year of tuition, boarding, uniform, and supplies! It was one of my proudest, and most humble, days of my fitness career. I was able to assist with two other fundraisers for her chemo and David’s schooling, and between these and other events, we were able to fund David’s second year as well.


Sadly, Phylo died in November, 2022. When I miss her, I go to her page and watch clips of her dancing with her joyous heart-out smile.

 

I spent a lot of time thinking about what connection I wanted to scrap. Tears came to my eyes when I thought of this connection so it just seemed right! Thanks for the challenge!

 

Fair warning: I journaled about a rather heavy subject...

 

Interesting... Thank you for the challenge.

 

hi, I used Rachel Jefferies products:
rjefferies-work-bloghop
rjefferies sew happy M3 Aug 19 Add Ons Bundle
rjefferies wander&explore 2019 byos

 

Jan-16---Human-Connections by Dannisa posted Jan 17, 2024 at 8:01 PM

 

Went a couple of directions before I settled on this. There are connections everywhere

 

Thanks for the challenge.

 

This is certainly a connection I've thought about, but never would have documented. Thanks for this inspiration.

 

Thanks for this challenge!