Conversations Create Memories
Ade is a Nigerian Canadian whose younger brother Femi recently graduated, top of his class from a prestigious university in Vancouver, B.C. Femi hadn't seen his mother since leaving Nigeria to come to Canada to pursue his studies four years ago, but they regularly spoke on the phone and she was proud of her son's accomplishment, so much so that she would make a point of bringing it up to everyone she met in her hometown of Abuja. The only thing that would have made her happier is if she were able to see her son walking across the podium in person.
It was 3 months until Femi’s graduation ceremony and Ade had an idea. If she and two of her closest cousins pooled money together over the next three months, they would be able to pay for a plane ticket for Mom to come to Canada and surprise Femi at his graduation. Due to the cost of travel at the time, their parents had not been able to attend Ade's graduation, but she would not allow that to be the case for Femi's.
Vancouver is thousands of miles from Abuja so the price of a ticket isn't cheap. The total cost of Mom's surprise graduation vacation would be roughly $4000. Ade now had a goal and a team to achieve it! To set the plan in motion, all she had to do was open the Kunye app, add her cousins into one group and say "Hi!"
The family easily kept on top of their goal by using Kunye to track contributions, set reminders and plan out how to execute their plan, all while keeping this a surprise from Femi.
Three months later they had reached their goal and Mom was on a flight to Canada and seated in the front row of the ceremony. Of course, Mom made a point of coming early so she got the best seats!
As is often the case for graduation ceremonies, for the sake of time those in attendance were asked to hold their applause until after all the names had been announced. But when Femi’s name was called mom’s cheers could be heard from miles away!
"That's my Boy! That's my Boy!" she screamed!
Ade often thinks about how proud her mom was on that day. She had never seen her so happy. Her mom had not seen her children in years and she had flown miles to visit Canada for the first time to surprise her son at his graduation. Femi was so happy that his mom was able to share the day with them. It brought him to tears to see her cheering his name as he walked across the podium. It was a day the whole family would never forget.
Since then Ade, Femi and the family have organized similar trips for their mother to other places around the world. She has become quite the travel bug. They have even begun pooling funds together to help Femi buy a house. They have realized that there is so much they can achieve with a conversation, a goal and a plan.
At Kunye, we are creating a platform to make borderless financial collaboration as natural as a conversation. Because conversations create communities, communities develop ideas and ideas make things happen!
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