Thursday 12 December 2024

Contact 1800 772 679

Contact 1800 772 679

The magazine of the Public Service Association of NSW and the Community and Public Sector Union (NSW Branch)

Kidness

Kidness

What surviving on the kindness of others taught me about perspective, connection and happiness

Kath Koschel
$39.99
Allen & Unwin

After an unbelievable run of setbacks, Kath Koschel set out on a special journey.

In August 2006, Ms Koschel (pictured above speaking at the 2022 PSA/CPSU NSW Women’s Conference) walked out of her Sydney home and travelled around Australia with no money, determined to see if she could survive on the kindness of strangers.

Her journey to this point is a harrowing series of events. A lifelong cricket fan, Ms Koschel reached state level in the game before breaking her back early in her playing career.
After gruelling rehabilitation to be able to walk again, she lost her partner to suicide, then was hit by a car and forced to again relearn how to walk.

On her healing journey around the country, she meets nearly 100 Australians who take her in and give an insight to the extraordinary kindness everyday people are capable of offering. She also meets people from less-privileged backgrounds, learning from their situations.

Ms Koschel later forms the Kindness Factory, which she says “is on a mission to make the world a kinder place”, running seminars in places such as schools and logging acts of kindness to give others hope.

The book is a feelgood story, without being too corny. A great public speaker, Ms Koschelis also capable of putting together a rivetting book that gives readers a sense of hope.

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