Back providing help to others again

Susanne König (photograph) has always been someone very busy with all she is involved in, be it her family, the church or a number of associations, organising this, taking someone from A to B, or cooking for people.
Then came a time in 2015, after she had been diagnosed with cancer, that she was the one needing help. Fortunately, thanks to an organisation called “Keep it Small and Simple” (Kiss), she was able to receive the support she needed.
 
It was two years ago that König initially heard about the organisation, from her friend Karin Pasamontes, who had become the managing director of Kiss in the neighbouring municipality of Cham at a time the organisation was being set up there. Kiss records the hours volunteers spend helping others so that the helpers themselves may benefit from the same amount of time when needed.
 
It was support from Kiss which helped König when she had to go to Aarau for five weeks of radiation treatment. “It meant I was away the whole day, so I was very tired when I got home and did not want to burden my family,” said the 64-year-old. For three months volunteers from Kiss came to do the cleaning and help with the laundry, and, true to their motto, in an unbureaucratic way.
 
Having been very active helping others prior to all this, it was not easy for König to suddenly be the recipient of such help, but now she is back on her feet, she is enjoying helping as she did before, not least in leading the Kiss cooking team, which, among other things, provides lunches for around 50 people once a month in Cham. Not that she is strange to preparing meals as König is a trained cook herself and in the past has helped out cooking for scouts and school groups at camps. “After I had been diagnosed with cancer, it took away my confidence. Later, when I began to feel better, I began to ask myself whether I could still help out in any way. Now I know I can,” she said.
 
In fact, in addition to cooking, she also chauffeurs people around, as does her husband, who also helps at Kiss. “Sometimes I have to stop myself from taking too much on,” she said. Areas where she is not too keen on helping are in reading out and in assisting with computer problems. She mentioned how, not long ago, she spontaneously stepped in to take a woman shopping and was rewarded with a very nice smile. “It is simple things like this which give one great satisfaction,” she said.
 
Looking back at the time when she needed help, she said, “Without Kiss I would not have coped. My husband helps with the housework now. He’s the one in charge of hoovering.”
 
The Kiss organisation of Zug actually celebrates its first anniversary today, Thursday 21 September, a date which coincides with the publication of the book appropriately titled “Time for You, Time for Me” by the woman who initiated Kiss, Susanna Fassbind, who herself is from Zug. This is to be presented at the premises of the Cham Kiss group on Hünenbergerstrasse in the municipality on Tuesday 26 September at 6 pm, to which anyone who is interested is most welcome.