9th Sep, 2019
September is here full of promise and good vibes, hopefully for most of us. I’m hoping that you’re not reading this from traffic because nilisikia kids are now going back to school! You know how that goes. It has been an interesting week seeing and hearing the bustle of parents and kids running around preparing for the final term of the year.
I wouldn’t have known either if it wasn’t for my neighbor and friend, who has two kids he is raising by himself. Thinking about it, I feel his frustration and I have never been able to understand how parents do it. Back in the day when I was in primary, I was a really handful. But then, weren’t we all? Those days we used to go to school in the morning looking spick and span, and go back home looking like we bathed in soil with no regret or remorse. My mom really could not stand me.
But I mean, being a kid was carefree, which meant our parents were at the direct receiving end of it. I used to be the kid who was either eating my sweaters at the wrists for some weird reason or I was losing them. There was no in between. Going back to school meant a full week of figuring out what exactly I lost in the previous term. A sock here, all my stationery there, a ripped shoe here and holiday homework untouched. Our parents really had it handed to them, obviously coupled with the fact that they had expenses like school fees.
Paying fees back in the day was tough because everyone had to go to the bank, pay and get a slip you would then as a parent have to take to school as you accompany your kids on the first day. I think that’s why it was such a relief to our parents to have us in school and occupied and we don’t give them enough credit.
My neighbor being a single dad is expected to play the role of mom and dad as well as taking care of himself. Seeing him struggle to get his kids ready had me spark a conversation with him just to know how he was getting along. We got to the point of expenses and paying for school and bills and he was mentioning how overwhelmed he had been in finding time to pay fees in time for the weekend when he takes his older daughter to secondary school. Being either too preoccupied to find time or always catching the bank as it closes, he wanted me to do him a solid and run the errand for him. That’s when I took the chance to talk to him about lipa Karo. At KCB, we understand that parents have other commitments and may not have the time to visit banks whenever they want to make a payment to a school for fees. Lipa Karo is a platform on the KCB app that allows you to pay for your kids’ fees right on your phone! Using the schools code and your child’s details, you are now able to pay fees directly to your child’s school. Alternatively, you can pay fees at any KCB Mtaani agent near you, reducing the hassle of having to deal with banks! Parents these days have it a little bit easier as they can now manage their tasks conveniently and deliver their kids safely to school! This came in handy to my neighbor who had never heard of Lipa Karo!
Sometimes as kids we don’t realize the value of appreciating our parent’s efforts but as we grow up we realize more and more what a great gift to us and that we should take care of them.
Enough waterworks, that’s it folks.
Over And out
