IN the village of Kissa, there lived a cobbler (shoe mender) by the name of Lambo. Nobody knew where he came from. Some said he was a Ghanian, while others believed he was a Senegalese. But because he had lived long in Kissa and even spoke the local dialect, he was accepted as one of the indigenes of the community.

Lambo usually wakes up early every morning and retires to bed late every night. He does his job studiously and he loves cracking jokes, all in a bid to make his customers happy. Because there was never a dull moment with Lambo, little children always came by his shop to have a good time listening to his funny jokes and stories.

Every fortnight, Lambo often sojourns to the far away city to procure materials he would need for his shoe mending trade. The journey normally takes a day.

But the people of Kissa see Lambo as someone they were doing a favour even though he was the only shoe mender in the community. Many rarely pay the full charges he require of them to mend their shoes. And because of his simple and kind disposition, many of his customers always end up owing him. There were days he would complain to his customers of the challenges he was facing in his trade by the growing debts, but as usual, they would give him assurances to pay up soon.

Despite the challenges, Lambo was never in the habit of turning down any job. Both the high and low in Kissa always patronise him and he would always deliver on time. Because of Lambo, many were able to save money they would have spent in acquiring new footwear.

And then, one day, the people of Kissa woke up to discover Lambo's shop was locked. At first, they thought he had taken a trip to the nearest city to buy some materials. But when on the second and third day his shop remained locked, Kissa people became uncomfortable because some had shoes that needed mending. Some could not go to the farms or go hunting as their footwear needed attending to.

Fearing something terrible might have happened to him, they broke into his shop, and the little room he uses as his home. But to their amazement, everything was in their rightful place, indicating that Lambo had arranged his home before departing.

Enquiries were made as to his whereabouts, but nobody could come up with any answers. The disappearance of Lambo was taken to the Palace of the King of Kissa, where the matter was deliberated upon. Even the King and the Queen of Kissa were troubled as their favourite shoes needed some mending in advance to the next Kissa hunting festival.

The disappearance of Lambo became a problem because no one in Kissa knows how to mend a shoe. Some tried but were at a loss on how to even start.

Looking for a solution, some of Kissa chiefs suggested for someone to carry all of their shoes on a certain day to a shoe mender in the nearest city and then to return them back after mending, but the problem was that many had no money to pay. Moreover, they had heard that mending shoes in the city was quite expensive. Outside that, there was no guarantee the shoes would all be mended on time.

Another school of thought suggested for a shoe mender to be hired to live in Kissa but everyone knew that would be impossible as not many city people would love to leave the city for a village like Kissa that lacked all the basic amenities. Besides, they doubt if the new cobbler would be friendly and homourous like Lambo.

And so, the people of Kissa who could not mend their shoes, started to acquire new shoes at their expense and discomfort.

Early one morning, after a week of closure, Lambo's shop was finally open for business. The town of Kissa was filled with excitement at the return of Lambo. People trooped to the shop to see with their eyes if it was true that Lambo was truly back. Even the King and the Queen of Kissa were not left out.

When it was inquired of his sudden disappearance, Lambo said he decided to go hunting as the shoe mending business was not paying off. He got lost in the forest but managed to trace his way back and alive. He then decided hunting was not for him, hence he has returned back to his old trade.

Right there, the people of Kissa begged him not to abandon his trade. A law was then enacted that all who owed Lambo had seven days to pay up or else his/her properties would be taken and given to him as settlement. With that, Lambo whose trade was despised became the toast of the town as the people of Kissa finally knew his relevance to them.

The moral of the story is: no trade is too small or irrelevant, and no matter how petty others think of your trade, be proud of what you do (positively) for a living. Therefore don't look down on another's profession, irrespective of whether one's trade is a mechanic, tailor, hair stylist, wheel barrow or truck pusher, carpentry, painter, electrician, cook, baker, farmer, hunter, builder, house help, guard, etc. We should all learn to value every one's trade as no job or trade is superior than the others.

Image Source: Painting by Ferdinand Hodler

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