New Contacts     June 15, 2022

Alice found me some contacts so we went to go talk with them and see if they were interested in the trainings I offer. One of them was a school that her child goes to. The other one was a government and privately funded orphanage and school. You know, when Darussalam said they didn’t need my services, part of me was disheartened, the other part said, if that’s a closed door, where is the open door? I started considering even before Alice got these contacts that perhaps the school system would be better. Maybe being able to train the teachers would be a better open door. And then Alice sent me those contacts within the first five minutes of me having that thought. When we were sitting in my living room at this apartment, she also mentioned some thing that was very simple, but made a big impact on me. She said, Joelle, you are wanting to help businesses that are still growing, yes? I said absolutely. She said you don’t really want to work with businesses that are already well-established right? I said yes. She said you are also wanting to help businesses that are serving a good purpose right? She explains, the types of businesses that are still growing don’t have 20 to 50 people working for them, they usually only have one or two. 

That was such a good statement. Because here I am looking for companies that need these types of trainings, the ones that really can’t afford this type of stuff, and every company that has over 15 employees is already doing well. However, the education system requires a minimal amount of people in order to start a school. You need to have 15 to 20 teachers to be able to start any kind of school system. So, they could be at the very beginning stages and still have that amount of people. 

So, I took her advice and agreed to go with her to her child's school to talk with the administrator. I spoke with the administrator about what I do and the types of trainings that I offer. After discussing for sometime, I explained to her that I only have a few more weeks, and that this might be too last minute. I would like to build relationships so that when I return next year we can schedule some trainings. She said let’s do it now. She said I want all of these trainings. I laughed but I knew that we had an open door. 

The next location that we went was the government facility. This place is pretty awesome. They have about 200 students here. And because of its great reputation and extremely honest methods, it is one of the only orphanages left in Kenya that is allowed to have a school as well. They also have an elder care facility on site. We walk in to meet the administrator, and she is all business. She’s very reserved, and I could tell right away, I did not wanna waste her time. So I told her quickly what I did and what I offered. She asked a few questions, Price was a big concern, and she really sounded like she was about to back out completely when Alice stepped up and truly advocated for what I provided. 

She used her standing in the community and with some of the employees at this facility to promote this type of training. She also explained that she had business connections in Nairobi when she used to work there and that she always brings individuals to this compound so that they are able to help participate and see the type of work that they are doing. It was awesome to see my friend stand up, and communicate in such a bold and business appropriate manner to achieve her goals. I was even more excited because her goals were the same as mine. Lol but you could tell that the manager shifted. She lowered some walls and started asking more personal questions about the type of work I do. She expressed that she has about 40 employees but they are at all different types of levels and they work so many different shifts. She explained that she cannot guarantee, but that she would ask her employees if they would be interested in something like this. That was all I needed. I was very excited.

 But she stopped for a moment and said, well what if only one person is interested? Lol I looked at her and said with a very honest demeanor, then we will do a training with one person. She was shocked and said, why would you do that?. I smiled and took a moment. I said to her, I have to tell you, I’m a Christian. And I have been praying and asking God to open doors and closed doors. If he were to open and door that only had one person standing in it, who am I to close that door and say that I’m too good for that. If there is only one person that comes to my training, then we are going to have some awesome one on one coaching and individualized material. And Alice chimed in and said, well I will be there, so that’s three. We all laughed but I also mentioned, that’s just the theme of my faith as well. I’m a firm believer that if You were the only person on earth, Jesus would have still come and die for you. So if Jesus would do that much for one person, I’m not too prideful to do a training with one person.

Though we had made progress, I wasn’t quite sure if this was going to turn into something. We left without a guarantee of a date, time, or individuals participating. She said she would get back to me within a couple of days.

As we walked away Alice and I made it out the gate and around the corner and then we both looked at each other and started to laugh and smile. All right, we did it. We had two interviews and two prospective training opportunities. I just thanked her again and again for her contacts. She thanked me for bringing this type of material to her community. You know that God really created this connection.

Later that night, I got a message from the manager that said she reached out to her team and they really want to attend. So we set a date and the exact amount of people will come later.

So, one day at a time. I’m walking through open doors. Alice and I are working together. And we will see what tomorrow brings.