I never knew that I am a hands-on type of person. Not until the Christmas holidays when our group of young parents in the church were tasked with the making of the nativity manger.

I am their leader and so when the church council announced that we were to decorate the church in readiness for Christmas, I knew that the responsibility fell on me. The one thing that I first thought abou was buying nativity dolls for the occasion.

The church council told me that we did not have money and so we would have to do with improvisations. Getting the dolls also proved to be really exorbitant for they were selling at so high prices.

Then I went to YouTube and saw what other people were doing. They were mostly DIY videos. And I was stupefied to see the amazing creations that people could come up with.

Two days to Christmas I decided that I am going to do it myself. All that I needed were printed trace papers, some plywood and a hacksaw.

I would cut out the image of baby Jesus on the manger, the three wisemen, cows in the manger, Mary and Joseph.

The only works that would need a carpenter was building the manger itself. But since I had all the designs and the idea, I instructed the carpenter on what to do.

It was an awesome moment for me. I was however alittle bit anxious wondering whether things would work out well.

My items were superb.

I even went ahead to make some extra ones for my house.

And today, I have the plywood arts hung on my walls: baby Jesus in the manger, 3 wisemen, cows, Mary and Joseph.

What this incident taught me

The incident taught me to believe in myself. It also taught me the value of team work. To get those designs right, I had to consult with friends who we all chose the best designs. I also worked with a few church kids in getting the plywoods well decorated and arranged next to the manger.

How it is shaping me at work

Now that we are back at work, the incident still lives in me. I believe that I can be a hands-on type of person. I just need some inspiration, determination and something to push me a little.

At the moment, I am thinking of making some weighted spoons for my Parkinson’s patients. Because let’s face it: buying the gyenno spoon needs a lot of bucks. And since I deal with a not well to do type of clientele, we really need to do with improvisations.

Because all that it takes is just some heavy wood or plastic that I will then attach to normal spoons. I have seen some people do it on Youtube. And since there are some pieces of wood available, I am sure that it will work.

The weighted spoons will work great on controlling tremors.

Let me focus on working on this!

Author(s)

  • Trizah Wanja

    Trizah Wanja, Caregiver

    Trizah Wanja works as a palliative caregiver at a missionary hospice in Kenya where she is responsible for taking care of cancer and Parkinson's patients by encouraging them emotionally, spiritually and psychologically. She brings over 9 years of experience into hosiped.