Lessons from Gachie conductor, Sultan Hamud’s officer and KWS officer’s acts.

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The Kenyan social media has for the last one day gone abuzz over the story of Daniel Mwaura, a bus conductor plying his trade along Gachie-Nairobi route for his honesty to return KES. 30,000 to a client who had dropped his wallet in the bus.

Child’s hospital bill.

The money was meant to clear a hospital bill for the customer’s son. What amazed so many is Mwaura’s response when this customer asked him what gift he wanted for this rare gesture.

This was Mwaura’s response:- “First sort out the child hospital bill we will discuss about me latter , it's your child who needs assistance first.” Waaooh!

This must have been the last thing the client expected from a “Makanga” who are assumed to be ruthless and heartless. But Mwaura has restored faith in humanity within the notorious matatu sector after this kind gesture.

FACT: Not so many people would have acted in the same way Mwaura did, leave alone makangas who are always accused of even robbing their clients’ change.

Just a day earlier, the photo of a cop assisting stranded motorists by providing safe exits from a flooded section of the Nairobi-Mombasa highway took the social media fraternity awe.

Constable Abdi Galgalo.

Constable Abdi Galgalo of Sultan Hamud Police Station was captured standing at the edge of the road to mark it for motorists who were driving through the flooded section in Sultan Hamud.

The floodwater had rendered the Sultan Hamud Bridge along the Nairobi-Mombasa highway impassable, leaving motorists stranded. The officer opted to be the road edge markers to ease traffic build up when the floods subsided.

Galgalo exemplified the selfless service rendered by many officers to Kenyans each day.

Inspector General of Police Joseph Boinnet has commended the police officer.

Ranger Philip Wesa.

A few days earlier, a Kenya Wildlife Services (KWS) ranger was the darling of social media after carrying a disabled schoolgirl up a hill for a view of Chania falls at the Aberdare National park.

Ranger Philip Wesa got touched after getting word from his colleagues of the girl who could not climb the hill because she is disabled. Deborah Nyaboke from Joyland Special School in Kisumu had been left behind in the school bus by her schoolmates who went to view the waterfall.

Upon getting the news, Wesa went to the school bus and carried the Form two pupil on his back. The two ascended the hill with the help of other KWS rangers, all in a noble effort for the girl to get a magnificent view of the waterfall.

Last year, a picture showing a traffic police officer giving a helping hand to a woman in a wheelchair warmed many hearts on social media.

The photo was shared on Twitter by a user by the name Sande Kennedy with an appeal to other tweeps help make it trend as it pointed a different image of the much maligned Kenyan police service.

It is good to note that every morning, police officers put on their badges not knowing for sure they will come back home in the evening to take them off. Most of these officer are good people who put 

their lives on the line every single day to maintain public safety and hold accountable, those who break the law.

Kindness is rare.

Well, it is a tough world out there, which is why random acts of kindness can make all the difference. After all, with everything there is to deal with, finding the time to be selfless is truly admirable, and far too rare.

As a matter of fact, there no such thing as bad people considering there is no scale to measure up good and bad levels of a person. For instance, for a shopkeeper a thief is a bad guy, whereas for the customers, the same shopkeeper selling stuff at high price is a bad guy. For a hungry beggar outside that shop, the same customer is a bad guy because he chooses to ‘waste money’ rather giving him some spare in his need.

Overall, majority of Kenyans believe that there are more good people than bad people in the country. However, poorer Kenyans are noticeably less likely than richer ones to say that there are more good people than bad people in the country.

Attitudes and morality vary widely across time, place and belief but the central struggle between good and evil is a story as old as humanity itself. 

Majority of us have lost faith in the good of mankind. And that is why we are amazed by the kind gestures of those who opt to do good no matter what. The dishonesty and heartlessness among the communities we live in can affect people’s thinking. If celebrities cheat, politicians rig elections, and business leaders engage in nepotism, surely common citizens would feel more justified in cutting corners themselves.

Are these people heroes?

Anyway, my point is this…. Are these people heroes really?

Realistically, no. It is not about being a hero, it is about doing the right thing. There are good people out there — a lot of them. Sure, there were so many people who would have done the exact opposite from what the above three men did, but what they do doesn’t have to define what you do.

So to all the good people out there, don’t stop yourself from doing the right thing, you never know what further good might result from your one small good deed. Yes, the world is pretty f*cked up sometimes, but by being your own role model, you project an image of what others should aspire to be.