During this time, I was living with my aunt, and I needed to find a solution to the challenges I faced - something permanent rather than temporary. Deep down, I knew it wouldn’t be easy. My replanning involved reallocating funds, which meant I couldn’t continue with my investment plan. Instead, I focused on home and sought a way to solve a significant issue: the lack of water.
Not having a water source at home was a considerable problem, causing additional stress for my mother. Since there was no younger sibling at home to run errands, and neighbor children could only help temporarily, I knew I needed to take action. The first step was to come home and assess the situation. What I found was even worse than I had anticipated. One lesson I learned is that no matter how far you try to escape responsibilities, you will eventually have to face them, and the longer you wait, the more they seem to compound.
I am thankful for the concept of prioritization, which helped me distinguish between immediate needs and things that could be addressed later. I didn’t return home with a lot of money to renovate the house; I just wanted to explain the conditions I encountered. Eventually, I reached the water issue and found myself withdrawing all my savings to buy a pumping machine, which became my largest expense at the beginning of the year. My second significant expense was the cost of running the water - having just the machine didn’t guarantee access to water. To make a long story short, I managed to gather funds from various sources, and we ultimately had running water in the house. This felt like a major achievement for me, especially remembering how happy my mother was when she returned home to find we had a water source.
The journey to obtain water and the recovery period afterward were not easy. Finances were tight, and I had nowhere else to turn for money. I am grateful for God’s grace and mercy, which helped us manage and survive. In the first quarter of last year, my primary expense was establishing our water supply, and if I had the chance to go back in time and redo things, I would still prioritize getting the water running.
Guess what, after gaining access to water, I was able to diversify and start my own business- catfish farming. As we all know, having water was a crucial factor in this endeavour. This experience really highlights the idea that while God proposes, it is people who take action.
This is my response to the HIVE LEARNERS weekly prompt in the hive-learners community for the Week 199 Edition 1, and the topic to be discussed is EXPENSIVE.