Househelp’s joy as she wins SA trip

They slept as ordinary Kenyans, but woke up “celebrities”.

A two-minute call to each of the three — Sarah Ndururu, Godfrey Omondi Oduor and Peter Obiero — declaring them winners of an ongoing promotion for tickets to the World Cup football tournament did the trick.

“Is this Sarah Ndururu”, asked the male voice on the other end, to which she replied in the affirmative.

Rare opportunity

“Have you participated in the Utadunda na Nani Promotion?” continued the caller, who kept on prompting Ndururu with questions; and from that point onwards, the reality of having that rare opportunity of boarding a plane looked more of a possibility than a hoax.

Not a flight from her base in Kisumu to Nairobi or somewhere within the country, but to watch the 2010 World Cup match live in South Africa in June.

“It was like a dream to me. I couldn’t believe that I was one of the winners. I’ll travel to South Africa for the World Cup,” said the 32-year old househelp.

“I only believed when I was told to go to the Kisumu Bottlers to confirm,” she says.

For a long time, residents of Kondele slums in the heart of Kisumu, where Ms Ndururu lives, have been flocking her humble one-room abode to congratulate her.

“She is my neighbour, and I just couldn’t’ believe what I heard. She must be one lucky lady, and I wish I was the one going to South Africa,” Gloria Awiti said.

She has never been to any plane before, but the Super Eagles fan was issued with a passport two years ago. It was while she was going about her daily chores, when the call came through her Nokia 1100 set.

“The funny thing is that I had applied for a passport two years ago. In fact, there was a time when I even thought of doing away with it,” she recalls, her left hand firmly on her cheek, as if to say, “thank God I didn’t”.

In the promotion run by Coca-Cola, one had to send an SMS to a specified number to win after buying returnable bottles of Coca-Cola, Sprite or Fanta, to stand a chance of winning the coveted trip. Ms Ndururu had 123 entries.

“It was a matter of chance,” she says. “I used to drink a lot of soda, for me to get those crowns. Other times, I’d wait for visitors of my employer to leave and scavenge for the bottle-tops; I was that desperate.”

On hearing her good news, her husband, Mr Ignacius Machuki dismissed her caller as “those usual con men”, but little did he know that his wife of six years was about to get a ride, this time not on their family Raleigh bicycle, but in a Boeing 747 to the Rainbow Nation.

“These days, there are very many conmen and women out there and I thought this was one of them,” Machuki said. “The thought of my wife on a plane to South Africa sounded too good to be true, but I believed when I accompanied her to the Coca-Cola offices."

Hide their joy

Surely, good fortune comes in bundles, as Kisumu’s Jua Kali Garage produced two winners in the competition. Mr Godfrey Omondi Oduor and Mr Peter Obiero couldn’t hide their joy at joining Ms Ndururu for the Stimela train.

While both Ms Ndururu and Mr Oduor spent close to Sh700 worth of airtime for their entries, Mr Obiero, a self-employed mechanic spent only Sh35 worth of airtime to send seven entries.

“I just sent my entries, not knowing that I will win,” recalled the 42-year-old. “I had never won before.”

But Mr Oduor had won Sh10,000 during a competition by the same company in 2006.

Jabar Garage

“At first, I thought I was being duped, so I decided to call back to confirm. That’s when I knew I was a winner,” said Mr Oduor, who owns Jabar Auto Garage.

His four daughters couldn’t hide the joy of their father being on a plane they normally gaze at over the skies.

“Baba atapanda ndege na ataenda kwa mpira (My dad will board a plane and go to watch football),” said Oduor’s eldest daughter, Mercy Omondi, 13.

While the trio was swamped in making endless shopping lists and even promising their friends a present or two, they had one thing in common; draws can be real.

“I can now say without fear that people can win in draws,” said Mr Oduor, who will be supporting Nigeria at the championships.