Personally, I didn't wanna share this story! I wanted to enjoy the joy alone, bask in the euphoria of having been able to touch lives and make people smile genuine smiles. But a wise friend of mine said to me, "of what use is sharing in the joy of people if fellow Steemians don't know what the power of giving does to/for fellow humans"?
On a warm January morning, our WhatsApp forum came alive with a message from our friend, brother and business mogul😂😂, @samuelwealth. He shared with us the concept of having to give back to society, and not be self centred. He spoke on the need to show love, and that's how Steemit-Uyo Cares, a concept until that point, saw the daylight!
Personally, I had always thought and thought of how to be of help to people. I'm relatively shy in weird ways (people will come here and shout up and down), so this was a way to do this. Contributions were asked of the Uyo community members, to which some of us responded.
On the D-day, @samuelwealth woke us with a message that summarily read "bus to leave the hub by 10am, we won't wait for everyone". This got some of us into panic mode; someone like @enoye came as early as 9:30am, ignoring her hastily prepared plate of noodles😂😂! I actually went around 10:15am. Boy, did the few of us that went early have a fun time, and I mean that in the most literal and sarcastic ways possible😂😂.
10am became 12pm, and no sign of the bus, though our packages were at the hub. A few of us like @samstickkz, @vheobong, @xpressng and @annieben, amongst others were around at this point, and we were chirping away happily. However, we later discovered that some unforseen and unpredictable circumstances did spring up; the reason for the late arrival of the bus! We prevailed though, and soon enough, were on our way to a transit camp for orphans to share with them, picking @jeline and @peterwrites on the way. We were warmly received by everyone there, and, after a few interpersonal relations, we handed over our "tokens of love", followed by "breaking of bread". The trip was lit, made enjoyable by @ekjosh, @jeline and @annieben. Kevin Hart should come for tutorials! Steemit has introduced me to people erstwhile unknown; @peterwrites being a perfect example! I never believed that seeing a fellow guy like me would always bring me joy, but such is the power of awesome people!
Cake by @steemit-uyo
@ekjosh and @xpressng, with @vic-essien in the background
At about 4:30pm or thereabout, we left the transit camp, happy to have been of so much joy to people. It didn't end there oo! The @steemit-uyo community decided to hang out and love ourselves; we went to a fast food joint (Kilimanjaro), where we had a few to "move our mouths" to, accompanied with several controversial and thought provoking discussions!
@ekjosh and @jeline; she wanted to steal @samstickkz chicken laps😂😂
Thank you, Steemit! You've given us the ability to empower people and gladden hearts, to bring joy to strangers and kindle the cinders of love! No better definition of success than that!