Mary Ojiayo...We are living with the sense that people from the west are more intelligent, superior and contented than we are.The truth of the matter is;Colour is the only difference but our capability and potential are always intact.No one can ever change this fact.This is a different generation so lets rise up as youths and strive to lead the lives we aspire.
14 comments:
… Believing that in the western countries there are no beggars and poppers is a total misconception?
… Having worked in other countries both in Africa and abroad as both a volunteer and an employee. I understand that many are times when the skin colour matters but Being less fortunate has nothing to do with colour but it squarely lies with the personal attitude you have towards yourself and with which you view life. It’s upon one to accept their position, no matter where you are or who you are, you can make a difference. Focus on issues that would make lives better than living the escapist words ”the problem with Africans”. If Africa is you and I then we just need to pull together and fix it.
White or black, problems are there and they will be there so if we can change our attitudes and turn to supporting each other in our small ways, our communities will be a paradise for envy. Lets come back to our selves and pump back life into the empty shell and believe in our crippled dreams; let the pride of their ownership crown our dignity. And remind ourselves that they are our dreams and it is we to realize them by not letting the ugliness of poverty and ignorance’s evil reign upon us.
it is true that it is only the colour that makes the difference between us nothing at all.
there is one thing that i have never forgotten and that is my encounter with W.K.Joseph during his talk at our university in Guelph canada and i will quote from his article"..... life has its ups and downs but that should not be the reason for us to look at it as a problem. life is not a problem you are the problem to life by not doing anything. as young people we should spend less time focusing on issues that will slow us down on our path to prosperity and focus more on our strengths that we could use to uplift our weakness.it is important to be in control of your space thoughts and progress. choice s have to be made either be part of your own growth or be a witness to it. don't you ever forget that ever choice you make and everything you do affects someone and if it doesn't have an impact in someones life it is as well as not done..."
looking at this blog page i admire his down to earth selflessness even more his courage and will. let us support each other and him in this initiative to make change in others lives.
Human beings we are at times our own worst enemies. Sometimes we are just afraid to think. Imagine a normal person only uses an 1/8 of his or her left side brain and a genious uses 2/8 of the same left side of the brain. If a normal person refuses to think what excactly do you guys feel will be the consequences??? Chances are the effects of their not thinking wont be very good. It should be a crime not to think. As young people we should really engage our brains..(the way am engaging mine now) use up the whole fraction. Dealing with others will be smooth sailing all the way (as if).... thank you (done on a light note)
Habari gani!
It makes me so happy to be able to find your discussions online like this. Props to Nak for being awesome and setting this up! And to you all for braving the computer interface and posting your thoughts! Sorry it's taken me so long to post anything... ;)
In the string of comments above, the post-ers have emphasized the individual's responsibility to direct his or her own destiny. We each need to exercise our brains, we need to have courage and determination, if we are going to make of our lives what we will.
I wonder what you all think about our responsibility to help others. This responsibility is help by every person in the world: by people in the USA and by people in Kisumu.
Whom should we help? Do we have a special duty to help family members? Do we have a special duty to the poorest of the poor (say, the street children in Kisumu)? Do Americans have a special duty to help poor Americans, even when helping them will take aid from people who need help in Kenya?
How much personal comfort should we sacrifice in order to help another person? If you become rich and successful, would you ever have the right to spend money on a fancy car when people you know can't afford school fees?
These are questions I feel we all have to wrestle with. We all know people who are less fortunate than we are. We all have something to give.
Here's an interesting article I read recently:
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/17/magazine/17charity.t.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&ref=magazine&pagewanted=all
Peace to all of you!
Ibrahim Oduor Kujaabi
Hi. I am the father of Ibrahim. I am not a youth but I am young in spirit! Ibrahim just showed me your blog and I'm thrilled to see comments such as Wam's, "No matter where you are or who you are, you can make a difference," and Stephen's, "Leadership is built on risk taking and go getter attitude." That's exactly how I feel. I am a teacher (and also a student working to get my teaching license after a change in careers) and these are the kinds of attitudes that I hope to encourage in the students in my own classroom (what a wonderful example you are setting for them--you are role models!) I am looking forward to reading the conversation that will be going on here on this blog in the future--I can learn a great deal, and if there is one thing that I enjoy above all else, it's learning new things! The topic of this semester's teaching seminar is "Youth Activism." It is amazing that we here in my US classroom will be talking about this at the very time I've discovered your blog and the activities of the Abila Youth Club. I hope I can interest several of my fellow students to join you here in cyberspace.
Maas Kujaabi
people, i am one of the volunteers at abila creative center...it has been said for so long that the youth are the leaders of the future, and it is my unfortunate opinion that most youth do not think so, at least judging by their attitudes towards a lot of things. during my time at the center, and elsewhere i have come to expect very little from the youth..and i am not saying that thi sis all they have..the sad fact is that they are much more capable of doing so much more if the only set their minds to it. it would be interesting if maas was giving his lecture on youth activism to the youth in kisumu instead..i really think they need it. fo rfuture leaders, they are too content wit too little and has jesse said, we need to do more with our minds.
Greetings from Brooklyn, USA! And major propers to Aliba Youth Club and all the volunteers there. You are doing great work for your community and leading by example. Please keep it up!
I would also like to comment on Mary Ojiayo's comment about the inferiorty complex of many Africans. I believe that the biggest obstacle to an individual's development is the limits they create for themselves. Only when we are educated, imaginative and unafraid will we start taking the risks we need to take to be successful.
Peace.
Brad
This is owe some and i am very happy that we are putting our brains together by giving our views but the most impressive part of this s to hear from Maas Kujaabi i hope other old young at heart will join us and help us get to where they have gotten to more coments later
This is owe some and i am very happy that we are putting our brains together by giving our views but the most impressive part of this s to hear from Maas Kujaabi i hope other old young at heart will join us and help us get to where they have gotten to more coments later
jesse i totaly agree with you but whose responsibility is it to help the poor and who are the poor. From my own encounter and experience with those considered "poor". in some way i feel by directly helping makes them sit back wallow in the comfort of "am poor" and someone will come and help me. at the moment am voluntering at a center where everyone who hears that you are an elien in their land looks at you as some donor send blessing that is suppposed to free them from the bondage of poverty. this is a very very bad attitude and a few times helping them solve their most immediate problems has lead to a chain of demands and acusations. the truth is they are poor yes but... why is it that right across the fence their is a rich person who lives in abandance he sees this so called poor every day he knows about them but ignores their knock and call. he would ra ther spend 2 dollars feeding his dog than sparing a dollar to feed a family. if you and me can make a difference in our small way what can the rich within the community do? jesse for the short time that i am here i can only do as much then what happens when i go? how much begging can one man respond to? you can feed a number of them then what?. yes we can not ignore the poor and yes we can save them with a few coins droped here and there, but may be the best we can do is to know they are there and feel for them feel with them and not try to distance our selves from their poverty. Until we raech that realization we shal struggle to burn our little resources to help eventually beg while others spend on luxuries. In africa,america , canada in kenya kisumu or wherever poverty is poverty and its UGLY. for whatever reason that its there.....! just do what you can do when you can do it
shalom
People,
Rich or poor, like beauty, is a matter of perception. Those who have defined "poverty" have never known it, and those who live in poverty believe they are owed them something by the rich. To give an example of how skewed our perceptions can be, here in the US I earn a salary that puts me below the national poverty line, but I live in relative luxury when compared to a Kenyan civil servant unable to afford a school uniform for his child.
The tragedy of poverty is its inevitability, but only in a material sense. The silver lining is that poverty is NOT a measure of misery. Clearly the millionaire and the pauper both experience happiness, sadness, loneliness, confidence, love and heartache for reasons unrelated to their bank accounts.
Though each of us is uniquely individual, we are tied by common and basic human needs like water, food, shelter, sanitation and health care. These so-called "essentials" for survival are mistakenly thought of as entitlements, and so the compassionate and needy alike ask, "How could people be starving in this world of abundance?"
This question is an important one although it has no answer. The simple act of asking it is an exercise in humility and introspection that can have a positive influence on human interactions such as those guiding how we govern, share, tolerate and rely on one another emotionally. Yanni, placing ourselves along side our neighbors instead of above or below them challenges our competitive human nature. Asking this question is the first step in discovering that there is no valid reason for us to compete over these "essentials."
I am confident that we will all one day ask this question and learn to distinguish poverty from misery. Perhaps we first need to stop blaming our misfortunes on the good fortune of others. Blame is counterproductive and usually causes those with resources to defend the why and how those resources were acquired. After all, are the rich any less entitled to their posessions than the poor? A more productive approach is possible. With imagination we'll get there.
We all want what others have. Just remember that you, too, have something others want. Find what that is and share it, or give it away. You might just find that you NEED less than you thought you did, freeing yourself of the WANTS that made you poor in the first place.
And be generous with your smiles. They are free and carry great rewards.
Your resident question mark,
Mr. Mkate
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