TRIBE Means: Connection

Submitted by Guest on Mon, 2014-10-13 10:10

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Rubie Ruth

Kenya Teams / Social Media, Maai Mahiu, Kenya

&

Brittany White

US Teams / Social Media, Austin, Texas.  

Britt:  The night I found CTC, I was crying in my apartment (in New York City) on a Sunday night because I didn’t know what to do next. I had just ended a relationship and I knew I didn't want to use my degree in music business. I was frustrated with where I was in life and knew I was on the verge of a new life season but couldn't see what it was yet. Usually, that means grabbing some ice cream and watching movies all night, but that night I got online and started job searching in Austin (I just figured I'd try to be closer to my family in Dallas, TX). 

THE VERY FIRST job post I came across was CTC. I was watching TV, not at all expecting to find a dream job or something I'd be terribly passionate about. So when I saw a post for "Executive Assistant," I figured it wasn't really what I was looking for but I knew I had the skill set and loaded up the page. Then I looked back down and said “hold on!” With my ongoing connection to Kenya from 2003, the fact that I helped run teams to Kenya before, it was in Austin...everything about it, it was perfect. That’s when I knew I had to work here.

4 weeks later, I’m living in Austin! It was hard to leave the family I was working for, hard to leave my church, and this guy I really liked had just started texting me (thankfully that part worked out great). I had been there for 5 years, and it was the first home I had made for myself after college. But I knew I had to follow my heart on this one.

Ruth: For a job! Haha just kidding, just kidding. Because it is my community. When I went to Nairobi for school, working in Maai Mahiu was the last thing that I would ever think about. I was always thinking I would work somewhere away from home. But when I came home after school from Jomo Kenyatta University, I developed a different way of thinking. I knew this is where I belonged. That's when I sought out CTC and saw what I could do for my community through CTC. 

I interviewed back in 2011 with Charles, Jeremiah, and Rebecca. It was a very challenging interview. When I came to CTC there were sooo many people with high qualifications, with master's and bachelor's degrees that were applying. When I realized that I said "ok, let me just do the interview and go back to my work, because this is not a job that I can get." I thought there was no way they would give me a chance because other people had such higher degrees and schooling.

Then even when I was offered the job, it was still taking a big risk to accept it and it was a reach for me. Everyone in Maai Mahiu was telling me not to leave my steady job to take the job at CTC. They'd all tell me that after a couple of months I'd lose the job because I'm not qualified enough. But I believed in myself and I bet on myself to succeed. I knew what I could do for my community. Now look at me, I just went to a rodeo in Texas!

4. Is it ever hard to stay at CTC?

Ruth: No, it isn't hard to stay! If it was I would have left by now! I've been here for 4 years, that should tell you it's not hard to stay.

But for the sake of painting the clearest picture, it’s also not feel good fuzzies all day, every day. Some days you don’t go home thinking, “yay, I did something for the world today!” Just like any job, there is still a very real struggle sometimes. You’re still exhausted, you're still frustrated by defeats, still wanting to do everything to the best of your ability and watching others run their own race, it’s hard. But it's all because it’s incredibly fulfilling. We work in an incredibly emotional field that requires constant attention and the weight of knowing that any slip ups can effect our work in Kenya and effect our supporters here is heavy stuff!

But ultimately, this job and the community are absolutely amazing. The relationships are what it's all about. I’ve worked in offices and it's been fun but nothing like this. Nothing like the people here and the people I get to connect with, especially in Kenya.

In working at CTC, I often say that now that I’ve seen, I am responsible. I’ve been given this responsibility of sharing. Not like when I first came back from Kenya, when I wanted to share about poverty and sadness, about the guilt we should all be feeling because of how we're living here. I was connecting people to my time in Kenya through scarcity and negativity.

Now, it’s about sharing the joy, resilience, and innovative thinking that is thriving there. It's no longer about feeling guilty and making others feel the same, it's about a perspective of thankfulness, never taking anything for granted and embracing the opportunity to spread the hope. CTC is one of those ways to live your life, without being bitter or feeling guilty about what others are facing. Instead you’re choosing to live responsibly and be a part of community that is creating impact every day. 

Ruth:  To my family, CTC means giving back. It is an organization that is giving back and one where you can feel family and togetherness. When it comes to my parents, with all that I have gone through recently and over the years, they know that I will always have CTC standing with me. CTC will always be like a family to me and they know that. Whether, it is in celebration or mourning, CTC will always get involved and be there for me.

Whenever I talk to a TRIBE member, I feel like, “ok, you get this; you’re a part of the story too. I feel like you’re in it as much as I am." We get pumped every time someone joins and we wholeheartedly celebrate each person that joins our story on this level.

It’s not just about supporting what I do; it’s that they share my passion. We’re working towards the same thing and this is how they play their part in the story.

TRIBE doesn’t require anything specific of you. You can be the person that donates and reads the emails or you can get your organization to raise money for a pizza oven. There’s no hierarchy in TRIBE, everyone is celebrated, welcome and equally a part of the story. 

Rubie: TRIBE is a community, built to help and support each other. TRIBE allows us to focus on our work. They get it, they believe in what we're doing. TRIBE is made up of people who are helping me to be where I am, to do what I love to do. Without their support, we'd be constantly worried about growing too fast or pursuing development that can be truly sustainable. To know that they love and believe what they do, it means so much.

Britt:  When I see or talk to a TRIBE Member, I feel accountable. I want to do right by them. They are a part of what we’re doing, so I’m always aware of that, always wanting to make sure that our TRIBE feels as special and as much a part of the story as we see them.

 

Outside of work, it’s another community. We have this same thread that’s weaving us together. It’s been a great entry into a lot of friendships and it’s created an unsaid, unspoken understanding that is so rare. 

 

Rubie:  I LOVE hosting our TRIBE. It's a great opportunity to update our family. Many of them that are visiting for the first time, finally seeing the programs they are supporting and meeting the people they are connected to. It is a great coming together of family. Even more than the financial support, it is the belief and love that they bring. When I see a TRIBE member, I think about this person making it possible for me to be where I am, right now. Most of our TRIBE are very busy people, so for them to take two weeks to come witness, connect with us and support what we do it is very powerful.

 

 

8. Your brother, Mwangi, started working for CTC last year. Tell us about your relationship with him. 

 

Rubie: Mwangi is the second born of 10, I am the 7th (I am lucky #7)! When I was in school, life was really hard for me. Being in Nairobi, I had other siblings in school so sometimes we didn't have enough for my school fees. But the beauty of my time there was that Mwangi was working as a Mutatu (public van) driver and drove back and forth from Narok to Nairobi. He really supported me. I would get sick, being in the city so much and the doctor often prescribed me to be taking lots of fruits, which were crazy expensive, but Mwangi would leave crazy early to get to these certain markets in Nairobi to get the fruits that I needed. He was on such a tight schedule with no wiggle room but he would always leave the fruits at the mutatu office. He was always so dedicated to supporting me. It was a big sacrifice, because even getting time away from work was a big deal.

 

Even before I finished whatever I had got from him, I would already have more. But he made sure that I never felt like I was bothering him. Even currently now that I am comfortably employed, he is just one of those people that will always give even to those that are actually in a better situation than him. Someone that is always there for me and will do anything for me (*pause for tears of joy*). Whenever I call him and I need help with rent, need help to buy something important, whatever it is he is always there for me

 

His serving nature is actually what led to his job as the CTC driver. One day, we needed transportation to the GAPA groups in Maasai land and no one was available to help. So I called Mwangi and of course he made it happen right away. He was always there for us when we needed him, so he worked on call for us for quite a while. Until eventually, we kep him so busy with the LIFE Line and Teams that we brought him on full-time. He also loves working for CTC and feeling the same support that he has always given me and that I have always felt here. 

 

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