Curse and hate like chicken always come to roast, so do blessings and love. Or simply put it that you always get back what you give (or are) and it somehow always comes back in a bigger measure.
Am a Kenyan by birth and by every other way you can think of, and I have been right here and many times in the middle of highs and lows of this country for like the last 20yrs. But I have never experienced hate in its full measure like I have in last seven months. In my quest to find out what this whole hate & curse thing is about … I got many theories and stories for their causes, but am yet to be convinced of any of them. Currently am at a point where I don’t care about the haterz any more, am more concerned on when we lost the love of each other as citizens of Kenya … and more on how to get the love back.
We currently have a generation of kids who learnt to hate when they were toddlers, and they learnt it from their parents. Many of the youngsters have learnt it as they were growing up and it has slowly become a part of their lives. And unfortunately, the adults are ensuring the hate lives on. In short we are in a hole that we have been digging and we still digging it. Funny thing is we are convinced that we doing the right thing and we have forgotten that two wrongs make no right … no matter what you do.
Injustices done in the past can’t be erased by us ignoring, cursing, hating and eliminating one another … that will never happen. We need to get our hands dirt and honestly get to the roots of the problems. And by that I don’t mean a legislation of anything … but I mean to get ourselves really dirty and painfully go through the roots of our issues and courageously uproot them. And this uprooting is not what has become the Kenyan way of uprooting by getting rid of the leaves. We have allowed some pple to get rid of the leaves of a tree and then cheering them on … forgetting we are in a semi-arid area where our trees get nourishment from the roots that run deep into the ground.
That means we have to sober up, a difficult thing if you ask me, but something we really need to do. We drunk from many things and beer/alcohol ain’t one of them. We drunk from hate arrogance, pride, greed, laziness, etc and we desperately need to sober up.
A good starting point is love for one another.
NB: Please pple lets not lie to ourselves that political leaders are to blame for our issues (which to me is a form of escapism), they are just a reflection who we are.
Hey Sayra
ReplyDeleteYou have a good post. I observe that you have gone to great lengths not to point at any particular "hot spot" which would obviously generate more heat than horse-sense.
I think as you say, we need to identify each root one by one and expose it. In my opinion kumekucha has done a sterling job bringing out these issues but many of us are in denial so anytime a contributor brings up an issue not to our liking, we bombard the space with nonsense.
so why dont you share with us the theories and excuses you've heard so far and why they do not convince you
Good to have you back
UrXlnc
Sayra, I can sense the pain in your heart.
ReplyDeleteAs for hate, my opinion has always been that anyone who hates another on the basis of ethnicity, race, creed, nationality or age is archaic, a stupid person that you should have very little time for. It is that simple.
Have our politicians played a role in fanning cross-ethnic animosity? Of course yes. But I do not blame them. They have taken advantage of our chronic ignorance and stupidity to advance their own very narrow and selfish ends. That is why we need to re-examine ourselves. Otherwise we will continue being full of chuki. Talk of little 'Michukis'.
Hey Sayra long time. Sure we need the love. We need to cultivate it when the kids are still young. We'll get there dont worry.
ReplyDeleteYou are right we need to just accept that we are part of the problem and choose to change..beginning with the person in the mirror
ReplyDeleteThis is a very cool post Sayra! I dont know myself either when Kenyans degenerated into such a hateful spiteful lot! I am telling you my sister I have seen wonders this year and I thought in Kenya we are learned people and that such things dont move us.
ReplyDeleteYou are right by the way, we are a true reflection of our leaders. We have to live with that instead of blaming 'Raila' as some people here are wont to.
Good to have you back.