On our way to the train station in Mombasa, we passed a street lined with schools. And suddenly I was transported back to my own childhood where I attended primary school at the Agakhan School in Moshi.
White shirts and green uniforms.
White shirts with blue Skirts
Children walking in groups, laughing, chatting, carrying backpacks bigger than themselves.
What every child also had were long socks and school shoes.
But this day was a little different.
Heavy rain earlier in the day had flooded the street – a reminder of the drainage challenges many parts of the world still face.
And in the five minutes we sat in a traffic jam, I witnessed something oddly fascinating.
Every child had to solve the exact same problem: How do I cross this flooded street and get to school?
And yet, everyone approached it differently.
Some simply marched through the water in their socks and shoes – focused purely on getting to the other side. Wet socks for the rest of the day? A problem for later.
Others carefully navigated the less flooded spots, balancing strategically from dry patch to dry patch. And helping each other cross.
Still others calmly removed their socks and shoes, held them high above the water, and crossed barefoot with ease.
And a few stood frozen on the side, overwhelmed and uncertain about what to do.
Same street. Same challenge.
Completely different responses.
And of course, being me, I started thinking, Isn’t this life?
Some of us charge straight through problems.
Some strategize.
Some adapt creatively.
Some freeze.
Some wait for help.
Some ruin perfectly good socks
And perhaps none of these responses are entirely right or wrong. They are simply human.
I think we often assume that if people are given the same circumstances, they will respond similarly. But they don’t.
Because every person approaches challenge through their own lens of experience, personality, confidence, fear, creativity and resilience
It was just a flooded street in Mombasa. And somehow it felt like a small masterclass in humanity.
Leave a Reply