BY TABITHA AREBA
Anyone who has walked the streets of a major city like Nairobi, visited hospitals or watched news will agree with me that people go through a lot of suffering. On the streets of Nairobi for example, you will come across tens of hundreds of people with disabilities and many more homeless children, youth and adults. But it is in hospitals where pain, agony and hopelessness reside. Imagine having a room mate in a hospital ward, a friend whom you happily chat with and share stories of life at home, family, career and yonder days. This friend becomes your prayer partner and your only hope as you open up your life and share information that you may never have shared with your healthy friends back home. You wake up one day happy and bubbly and receive the saddest news of your stay in hospital – your friend is no more! The friend might even have looked healthier than you. Such is the life we live. When you retire back home and watch news, you get to hear that a father has killed all her children then himself, a grandfather has raped her grandchild, tens of people have died due to a terrorist attack, and the news anchors go on and on, with slight traces of positive news.
When you live in such a world, and you realize that your purpose in life is to serve, then you must open your eyes, ears and heart to the hopeless masses of this earth. Here are examples of great leaders who are remembered for their selfless service to humanity.
Nelson Mandela
The British online Newspaper, The Independent, in an article titled Nelson Mandela’s greatness came from the humanity that he radiated described Mandela as a person who had all his attention to whoever person he was with – regardless of the position in society – whether a president, a child, a hotel porter, a cleaner, a waiter or a junior staff member. “His greatness came from the humanity that he radiated, his common touch, humbleness, self-deprecation, sense of mischief and dignity,” reads the article in part.
Martin Luther King Jr.
He was an inspiration to many and he would take his fight for equality and peace to whatever lengths, regardless of the repercussions. Many of his quotes depict a man whose heart was after humanity’s well being. In his speech “I Have a Dream”, he said that “An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity.” This, indeed, is truly selflessness.
There has been a debate as to whether firms engage in CSR activities because they are good citizens or because they believe that CSR will lead to increased profitability. There may not be a direct correlation between service to humanity and increase in profitability. Nonetheless, the satisfaction from giving back to society and touching the hearts of people in pain may ultimately exceed all monetary benefits.
Tabitha Areba is the Manager, Publications and Branding at the Kenya Institute of Management. Email: tareba@kim.ac.ke
