It is entirely possible you may have missed the NBC coverage of the Ajiri Winter Olympics. It was broadcast sporadically and only when the camerawoman was not competing in the egg toss or three-legged race. While you may have missed the live coverage, the results are mostly accounted for. Eggs were dropped. Marshmallow towers were built. Relay races were won.
Here are the final standings:
Team Italy and Team Kenya tied for the Gold
Team Norway took the Silver Medal
And Team USA trailed behind with the Bronze
But, of course, this is the Ajiri Olympics, so everyone got a medal. Everyone marched in the opening ceremony (complete with a torch), cheered for their teammates, and made new friends. The Ajiri Olympics are an annual event--a time for our new students to bond with the other Ajiri students.
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Angela, Wesley, and Damacline were now hopelessly off course. They had managed to scale that final fence and were walking down toward a forest. I wanted to run to them, set them on the right course, explain scale and direction and how they should put the compass on the map. But instead I watched them from the top of the hill. They were now making pretend owl calls to each other, quite literally hooting from one group to another and then bursting into laughter.
See, there is this tip-toeing around issues in business. No company should align itself too "political" for fear of alienating customers. But to have opinions and emotions—well, that's just human. As a society, we've become too corporatized—too sanitized to believe that companies shouldn't have a voice. Of course politics affect our business. Tariffs on tea! The war in Iran means higher costs of shipping our tea. The elimination of USAID and its direct impact on our community in Kenya. But more so than something directly affecting us and our business, we still care about policies that affect our neighbors and people across the world.
At Ajiri, we feel so lucky to be on this earth at the same time as all of you. Your purchase of tea holds a lot of that elusive power of art. Sure, your purchase is the transference of physical money that goes to support women and children. But your purchases of tea, time and time again, transfers this feeling of belief. You believe in these women. You believe in these kids. You believe that the world can be a better place.
Kate Holby
Author