Whoever said a good name is worth more than silver or gold or better still billions lying in the bank accounts was very right.How humbling can it be when people across the world sing and celebrate your birthday.How about when the U.N sets aside a day solely to appreciate and commemorate you.These are laurels enjoyed by afew.In spite of all that attention Mandela still manages to live a simple life, encouraging peaceful co-existence and forgiveness.His autobiography and his letters to his family and friends while in detention heavily emphasize that he was not a perfectionist,he too had flaws but did not let them dictate his course in life.After his release from jail he forgave his persecutors and better still he served only one term when could have served more.Mandela ignites empathy courage and love all in one.One of his quotable quotes reads “I learned that courage is not the absence of fear,but the triumph over it.The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid but he who conquers that fear.”He detested selfishness and barbaric rule and racialism whether from whites or blacks.How far can we go in life if we emulate his attributes and replace our chauvinism minds with a sense of empathy!
Monthly Archives: July 2012
DEATH IMMUNE
Everyday when I watch the news, when I browse the social sites , when Iread the newspapers, all I come across are deaths, deaths and more deaths.People are dying in numbers.And worse still they are dying gruesome and painful deaths.
From homicide, police shoot outs, bomb explosions, collapsing buildings, capsizing ferries, murder,cannibalism…….From Syria Iraq, Afaghanistan, Somali,both Sudan, DRC, Mali etc violence is the order of the day.My empathy goes to the children who can barely comprehend whats going on.I fear for the generations to come, they ‘ll be ushered in to a very messy world.
Our shock absorbers have been stretched to the limit.The eldery can not fathom these events.How can they understand the brutality and selfnishness of this level.The future looks precarious, living a day is not mere achievement atleast in this chatic world.
I do not know if you are equally worried,could it be passing of the prophecies in the book of revelation, nation s rising against nations.Even the developed countries are grappling with radical Islamists who are busy indrocinating susceptible youths.
Lets join hands to repent our sins, to seek God’s intervention for a peaceful world and a people that upholds tolerance and love.
MIND-CIVILISATION FIRST B4 VISION 2030
Show me a road that was constructed and awaited with much hype as Thika road.Its arguably the most sophisticated and modern road we have in East and Central Africa.But Kenyans are not ready for such roads.We still suffer from mediocrity hung over.The foot paths have turned into dens of street children,pedestrians do not see their importance.The road has claimed so many deaths as a result, yet we do not learn.And still on Thika road,it has been coloured with ugly graffiti.To me its an eye sore,so sad.
One thing i admire with developed countries for, is their self discipline in traffic rules.You do not start the engine until the green light indicates so regardless of whether the road is clear.In Nairobi and other major cities in Kenya its very chaotic.The transport sector has ignored the ‘michuki rules’ which were meant to bring sanity on the road.I have never been to Rwanda but have read so many blogs and articles regarding their orderliness on the road and conservation of the environment.
Major cities in Kenya have poor drainage systems,garbage littered every where, haphazard constructions etc The local government is in slumber land.
Grabbing of recreation centers and other social amenities is common and ‘acceptable’.Cowboy contractors as usual doing shoddy work on the roads due to corruption in tendering.Kitengela is a good example of a town that is growing very fast but ones it rains its impassable.This is due to poor planning.
Wangari Maathai tried her level best to make as fathom the importance of conserving our environment.But its ‘normal’ for every typical Kenyan to throw litters on the road as they drive.Many cities do not have dust bins!To us environment protection is inconsequential.
We cant purport to dream of VISION 2030 if we do not change our minds first.
WEST SCORNS AFRICA!!!
No one is born hating another person because of the colour of his or her skin, background or religion.People must learn to hate and can be taught to love for love comes more naturally to the human heart than the opposite.Those were words of the world icon Nelson Mandela.In relation to that many were shocked when Northern Ireland health minister EDWIN Poots said his country would not accept any blood donated by individuals who have sex with Africans.At this day and age a government official has guts to insensitively portray Africans as less-human.
The other day Korean Air made a gross mistake as it was launching its airlines to Kenya.It branded this country as a destination awash with indigenous primitive people.Now whether it was translation issue ‘Kenyans On Twitter’ did not take it kindly.In fact they went ahead to make a trending topic on the popular social media and as well as demanding a deserved apology.They did but the damage had already been done and consequently had their airline image tainted at least in Africa.
Spain is among the top four very developed countries in Europe.So when it found itself in the unfamiliar financial distress and was compelled to seek a bail out from the rest, the Prime minister one Rajoy infamously said ‘Spain is not Uganda’.We know Uganda is a developing country battling with a couple of challenges from democratic space,rebels in the North,human right violation etc But it was in bad faith to issue such a statement.How low do they regard Africa.
Only recently in England erstwhile Chelsea captain John Terry was cleared the racism allegations by the court that had threatened his career.Racism is common in European countries and its unfortunate the white still scorn Africa yet we have the opportunity to take the global economy to the next level.
Happiness is a choice
We are living in a virtually tough world.Everyone is working hard to makes ends meet.Consequently the nature of our work makes it impossible to meet regulary with our close friends and relatives.It therefore means life can sometimes be lonely.Away from that, marriage has been poisoned by the media,people no longer believe in love.Sex has been commercialised and overrated.Cheating of loved ones has been ‘accepted’ by the society.Thats aside, people naturally believe in their negatives than the positives.We have the ‘cant-do mentality’.All these are enemies of happiness.We cant expect our friends to fulfill happiness for us,we’l be disappointed.It has to start from our mindset.We must train ourselves to be resilient,to build self confidence,to be our best friends,to be optimistic,to listen to ourselves and know our strengths and weaknesses.We must also learn to forgive ourselves and also shun self criticism.Someone said,”if an egg is broken from the outside life ends,if its broken from the inside life begins”.Mahatma also said a ‘No’ said with conviction is much better than a ‘Yes’ merely said to please.
Demystifying Terrorism
Terrorism is a new phenomenal that the world is strugling to mitigate.Everyday newer tricks,methods,tactics and innovations are being explored by the said terrorists.Am made to understand that the ultimate desire of this movement is to creat panic and fear.For this to happen,they ensure they kill as many people as possible and get the necessarily media attention.The more the attention the better the satisfaction.Our biggest challenge as a country is that we border a very dangerous country,Somali.A nation that last had an effective government in 1990.That means there is a generation that has never witnessed the rule of law.No school no nothing,all they do is engage in clan wars .For many years Somali has been a training ground for terrorists.Radicalisation is the order of the day.Kenya is grapling with unemployment of its youth,this is the advantage terrorists take,give the youths afew thousand shillings and even promise more and they are radicalised.Unfortunately some mosques and imams have been part of the process.Our greatest enemies are within us,youths that have decided to betray their motherland and the security personnel along the borders who having sinked in corruption have thereby mortgaged their country.Terrorists are attacking churches to create a notion that the war is between religions.Lets all accept to be vigilant,engage in community policing,support our government and most importantly pray to the Almighty God to protect and save Kenya from its enemies
