BOYS TO MEN

Over the weekend my friends and i got to facilitate a group that had come for team building at Daystar University (it has the facilities if you ever want to drop by and its cheap). Anyway it was a group of 58 men and they had requested their facilitators to be only men but there was a miscommunication and we got included. Since we couldn’t interact with them in low elements our boss assigned the ladies the high ropes course. If you have participated in high ropes before you know what happens but just in case you haven’t i will explain a bit. There are two people important in a ropes course a belayer and a climber, a belayer is someone who exerts friction on a climbing rope so that a falling climber does not fall far, or basically belaying is a safety partnership between a climber and belayer. I was a belayer, and this is not an easy job and more so my small demeanour doesn’t make it easier. Something in that whole activity stood out for me. I belayed over 15 very able bodied men and there is no greater feeling of satisfaction than countering the doubts that those men had that i actually knew what i was doing. Picture this, a big guy currently playing for the Kenya Rugby Team safely belayed by a girl weighing 48kgs and he is 40ft above the ground walking on a rope scared shitless. There is no greater feeling, i have never been so excited. I had all the curse words anyone can ever hear in a day, earnest prayer, some men calling out their mothers’ names others warning me that their wives had my number and they would call me if they got hurt. It was magic to see what fear can do to a person, it strips you off your ego, personality, status, (I belayed a local celebrity who requested me not to tell people of his experience and how he was scared and screaming) does not care about gender and at that moment you forget who you are and all that matters is your safety. I am still reaping the fruits of every second that day. My arms hurt like crazy. My eyes are still bloodshot, and i am still fatigued. But i would still choose team building activities any day...everyone should try especially high ropes and other outdoor activities it is a wonderful experience