Kenya Must Matter …

Four months indoors has really slowed down life for most people if not all. We were all caught up in the culture of life and when life came to a standstill for us to smell the roses, sad to say, most of us didn’t even have the garden. It was dusty air for them to breathe. That’s why most of us were very uneasy and rebellious with the change that came up. From family, friends, relatives, society, and the world at large, it was clear there were things amiss. It is time we call out some of these things and take responsibility where it is due.
Family, one of those sensitive topics for most of us. Relation by blood can only be shown on a piece of paper, if lucky by resemblance, but without it, I know most of us cannot stand the sight of each other. Our children growing up under the care of someone else, spouses not having time for each other, the kind of unfamiliarity grooming in our homes is only a source of chaos and disaster. Even those who don’t fall into this category are facing new discoveries during this time. It is from this experience some of you have fully understood what living with each other means. What being in each other’s space actually takes. What are we when the things and delights of the world are taken away? Is family just an accessory? The foundation of parent-child, wife-husband, and sibling-sibling relationships have been tested, reinvented and others are broken, those broken are the cases that have become a sour cup of tea for most of us to fathom. The physical and emotional abuse that most stomach in these relationships are finally being seen.
Reinventing may mean you start over a fresh, seek counselling, file that police report, speak out your truth to encourage others to free themselves from a similar bondage, but it does NOT mean going back to the same situation and expect things to be different. It is time you stood up for yourself so that the rest of us can stand with you. Regardless of where you are in life, it is never too late to seek a new direction. For us as the society we need to actively be our brother’s keeper, if he is the one causing the unrest, CALL him out. You can’t be the person shook at the news of domestic abuse and yet you know someone in your circle who does the same. This kind of hypocrisy is what will be the end of us. No matter the cause of the argument that led to the dire actions taken, as the society we are not in a position to judge and take sides. I know victimization is bound to happen but that only reflects the unlearned among us, so such fools should not make you lose sleep. Abuse is not right, period! As of the role of the government, please set up working response teams to such cases, the same energy you are putting into COVID response needs to be reflected here as well. For the cases brought forward, they need the same kind of energy corruption cases are given. Working systems are what we all need not systems of display.
For friends, I have shared a lot on this so please check out @Frenzy. With this pandemic, it is hard to stay put, if you are not doing anything important out there, so seeing people who are putting us at risk during this season and us cheering them on since we know them, is just sad. From the partying, outdoor/indoor gatherings, rogue escapes from isolation facilities, total disregard of the law has revealed people’s character. Not sure if it is just me, but, if they can do such, can you imagine what they are capable of in your friendships and relationships. It may be all fun and games initially with no harm done, but can you imagine the risk associated if things went wrong? Recklessness is not something you want to be around. This even extends to the relatives’ department. We need to CALL them out on such wrongs, we all have a responsibility so let’s play it. Telling them what they are doing is wrong will be much more effective than other people stepping in to do the same. This doesn’t apply to this situation alone but also whenever they do any kind of wrong, big or small.
Then society, where the core issue is. Whether we like it or not we cannot fix society without starting with the family and vice versa. This is the environment that surrounds us and mold who we become in life. That said, it is time that we understand the two different generations living amongst us, the transitioning and the millennials. We all need to know who we are in these categories. The transitioning generation is the one raised on cultural traditions but has lived in both the cultural and western life, then the millennials, raised on both cultural and western traditions but lived in western life. Our perspective on life will definitely be different and we need to respect that. It is sad how the transitioning generation will feel disrespected if their traditions are not followed and are similar to how the millennials will feel when they are made to follow things they can’t relate to. All because we can’t understand each other. The transitioning generation will always be at loggerheads with the millennials all in the name of environment. The only thing we can agree on is what is right and wrong according to cultural tradition, which is our middle ground. If we are to use this, then our priority should be on character correcting, speaking up on social injustices, and taking up responsibility when it presents itself. Not focusing on our lifestyle choices. That said, the acceptance of the western culture does come with its responsibilities which we need to be familiar with. It comes with working laws and education on how to accommodate each other’s choices. Unfortunately, we are not there yet so it is upon us to get ourselves there. Till then, it is up to all of us to spread knowledge and information on how to tackle conflicting situation brought about by adopting the western culture.
I know we live in a world where minding our business is key but when it comes to matters that affect us directly or indirectly, it requires us to step up. Let’s not wait until things are at our doorstep to react. It’s time to demand accountability from our leaders, question: the effectiveness of policies, the delivery of basic services to the people as per their “promises”, how they serve the people, otherwise we will remain prisoners to a system that only works for those who can buy it. This means being an active citizen so that we don’t only make it matter at the ballot, but always. We are entitled to more than the government is offering. Our society equals our citizenship, best remember that.
In conclusion, this period has really reflected where our attention is at. After the fact, it is clear we are not giving much energy to things that matter to us long term, the clout chasing needs to take a seat back. Work needs to go into bettering who we are individually, the moral compass to be reset, and the focus of building our country which will, in turn, enable individual growth. What are you doing personally to improve our environment? Kenya must matter for us to smell the roses eventually.