"I hate shopping, and I am a fool about buying clothes – I would be lost without Cathi. She manages the women’s department of a successful clothing shop that is locally owned. She has a great customer ethic and seems to genuinely enjoy making women like me look good.
Here is one version of Cathi’s story: She is an astute business woman with an enviable track record in her industry. She is a talented manager with a good eye for fashion. She makes a good return for the shop’s owners.
Somehow, this story seems impoverished. Perhaps I should tell you that she came up through the ranks in the fashion trade. Cathi is determined and hardworking. She is a wife and mother to two children, and makes balancing her professional and work lives a priority.
Recently, I asked Cathi about her summer plans. She broke into a broad smile and told me about the family’s upcoming trip to Africa. Her daughter’s elementary school has been involved in a global education project with a partner school in Litein, Kenya, and Cathi’s family has been one of its biggest supporters. Curious about conditions at the African school and looking for more ways to champion the project, Cathi and her family decided to spend their vacation in Litein.
As I continued to ask questions, I learned that her daughter Samantha while still in Grade 2 was an instigator in the creation of a musical CD and video about the partnership. With leadership from a local real estate agent who is also a musician, Jeff Rolheiser, the CD features choirs from the African Inland Church Children’s Home in Litein and Fred Seymour School in Calgary. As the story of the partnership has spread, other humanitarians in the city have become involved with the project. Ironically, Fred Seymour School has since been closed by the school board, but Cathi’s family continues to enthusiastically support the children’s home in Litein.
Could I buy the CD? Yes, she had some behind the counter. I went home, slipped the CD into the computer and wept as I watched the video, a testament to children and parents in a North American city working together to make a difference in a village struggling with the effects of poverty and AIDS in Kenya.
Let’s rewrite Cathi’s story. I’m not sure she would choose to tell it like this, but this is how I see her.
Cathi makes me look beautiful. She is a successful fashion manager with a big heart. She works for a family-owned firm in Calgary that is part of our community. Her family wanted to help children in Africa get a good education and better health care. They have been helping to raise awareness and funds for a Kenyan partner school through a heart-warming CD of songs recorded by children in Litein and Calgary. Cathi sees her family’s current involvement as just the beginning of what they can do to make a difference in Litein. By sharing her story with a business client like me, she gave me a chance to make a difference too. That’s what sharing stories is all about.
If you want to learn more about the Fred Seymour Elementary school project go to
www.keepingthecirclestrongfilm.com.
