By Yasmeen Banu
Late last year, Vodafone- a British multinational telecommunications company headquartered in London, launched a new global brand engagement strategy through sponsorships, in honour of celebrating individuals’ achievements.
Called ‘Vodafone Firsts’, it shows people doing incredible things for the very first time. Previous projects for Vodafone Firsts includes having colour blind artist Neil Harbisson create his first colour-based composition to conduct a concert, as well as having surfer Tom Lowe brave one of the world’s most dangerous waves, amongst a couple of other inspiring and warm-hearted stories.
In their most recent Firsts, Vodafone takes two grannies on board a plane- for the very first time. While Ria is quite the daredevil, An has reservations, and most of all, a deep crippling fear that something might go wrong that has made her never, in her entire 71 years, board a plane.
“If you have a train accident, at least you’re on the ground. Same goes for a car. With an airplane, you’re just hanging in the air,” An contemplates for a moment, “It’s scary,” she says, looking all worried.
But after realizing she’ll be turning 72 in two weeks, she decided it’s time to face that fear.
As with a lot of things in our live, we often take too long to confront a lot of our fears. And sometimes, we listen to the voices telling us to retreat into our safe, comfortable bubble. This is okay, because we all need time to have internal debates and moments of contemplation, just like An.
You’ll see in this video that Ria, always chuckling between sentences isn’t like An at all- Ria is carefree and just raring to go. But put these two lovely grannies together, and the combination is just right to spark a lovely friendship and an experience that will forever remain etched in their memories.
At the end of it all, when An calls her husband to share the experience, those moments of silence and tears says it all,
It’s just like a dream.
Spend a little time watching this video of An and Ria experiencing their first flight.
And remember folks, be scared, but know that it’s going to be okay. And if you’re still scared, share the experience with someone! You might just have the time of your life.
*Photos taken from Vodafone Firsts Facebook page.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zD2NtzEPBcA
