It is one of those
Mondays full of blues, when opening your eyes and waking up takes ages, when
you curse being an employee and wish you listened to the entrepreneurship
lecturer at the University, who always reminded you to aspire being
self-employed! Today, I would rather be in bed than work. That must have been a
very long weekend, in fact I am still hanging-over from the intense activities
and experiences of the weekend; it was one full of emotions and now I realize
how it took a toll on me. I need to slow down!
A glimpse in to what happened over the weekend
at Moonlight Center. This is an academic center located in one of Kenya’s slums;
at Dagorreti to be specific. The Center is named ‘Moonlight’ because, like the
moon, it is actually a source of hope and light to the slum’s children, who
have been deprived off access to education by the cruel fate of poverty. It is
at the center that these boys’ and girls’ hope for a better tomorrow, which can
only be shaped through education, is restored. Indeed it is a real ‘moonlight’
since the girls not only get access to education but also get solutions to some
of the shameful ‘periods’ of their life that diminish their hope of ever
becoming women of substance in our societies. Indeed, periods of shame threaten the girl education in other
schools within Kenya’s slums; however, through the partnership of Moonlight Center and Ukabila Zi Society, in a project dubbed My Sisters’ Keeper, the
girls at Moonlight center can comfortably stay and concentrate in class all
year round without missing classes due to ‘periods of shame’!
On this Saturday,
Moonlight Center was holding a prayer retreat session. It was
a time to reflect on the favors that God has done for me, a time to count my
blessings one by one; initially they appeared trivial to me, but when I started
comparing the privileges I have had in life with what those students at
Moonlight Center and its environs lack, it dawned on me just how mega the
blessings were. If you have been to a slum, then you know too well how to
appreciate the things that seem rather trivial to us; in fact, you appreciate
what many ignore and assume it is normal. I immediately sank in to a thankful
mood; I held a moment with my heart to give gratitude to God for His abundant
grace and blessings in my life. I had time to thank God for my life and reflect
on the favour of God. Later, a time came when we were allowed to mingle and
share with the students in an attempt to offer them inspiration and hope that
says “The circumstances of our past and of our parents do not determine our future!”
I took time to hang out with people who should may be just sit and feel sorry
for themselves; but no they smile and have fun, they live as a community with
love, peace, and unity.
These young people
would make even the greatest of humans to sit and think about their lives a
little more seriously. Probably I do not make sense to you, but relax, by the time
you read this to the end; I will definitely have made sense to you! Imagine
spending time with a people that have literally nothing to their names, but
guess what? These same humans hunger and thirst for education. They are early
in the classroom and leave at dusk; as darkness sets in, they have no option
but to carry their tattered school bags home since the lanterns only make their
eyes to strain the more. Their hope is that they will be able to compete with
Starehe and Alliance; despite the fact that the lack of science laboratories
seems to dwindle their hopes, they remain tenacious that some day it shall be
true. They dare to dream that someday, just maybe, they will surmount their
current adversaries to compete with the rest of their peers in the country, the
continent, and the world at large.
My interaction
with these secondary school students made me to realize just how much we have been
focusing on issues of lesser necessity, forgetting the basics that would
otherwise go a long way in solving the bigger issues at hand. We rush to fight
insecurity by putting in place extravagant measures yet forgetting to solve the
cause…we are keen on curing the disease before diagnosing it and coming up with
preventive measures. When shall we ever focus on the cause and symptoms? Many
children in the slums do not go to high school. The fee is out of their reach
and for many; it is what can last them for a lifetime. You may wonder, then, where such children go
to after primary school. Sadly the statistics of child prostitution, drug
abuse, and robbery with violence, among other evils, hold the answer. Kid you
not be, that these evils do not happen in Kenya; a visit to Kibera, Kenya’s
largest slum says it all, I dare you to collect the statistics!
He, who robs you
of your handbag, robs of your money and car at gun-point, your expensive phone,
may be just one of those children who we have chosen to ignore. The seemingly
unending struggles of the day, with not a streak of light at the end of the
tunnel, make them to succumb to the crimes; they have no food on the table but
they have to eat! The “srikal saidia” and “Tunaomba srikal aingilie
kati” phrases no longer appeal to me. I have a brain and two hands; don’t
get me wrong, everyone does, but the difference is how we utilize these vital
organs. In the same society, there are those who would really want to utilize
their vital organs but need someone to hold their hand, someone to show them how
to fish, someone to give them the fishing line…after which, they will go to the
waters and fish. This is the case for most of the people in our slums. It is
upon us, the haves, to take up collective responsibility as “wenye nchi”.
Handouts will just be good for the day; otherwise, the generic problems will
keep on growing. Education is a crucial fishing line in life, that’s why I am
part of something big!
I am part of #15000KENYANSFORMOONLIGHT.
An Article by Sarah Makena,
Co-founder Ukabila Zi Society,
Champion of My Sister’s Keeper Project.
No comments:
Post a Comment