Sharing With The Less Privileged Will Not Make You Any Poorer

By Gabriel Dinda.

Thousands of candles can be lit from a single candle and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by sharing. This is a lyric which was enjoyed  centuries ago but still remains  a hard nut to crack to many of us. With our current society of hard economic times and lots of financial impediments,what do you expect?Some of us have literally given up on  deciphering what could have motivated Buddha to this end-in recording  this quote. 

              
             

You will probably not be surprised or it will surely be a repetition of routine by the mention of some acts which have evolved and formed part of our names today. Activities like throwing food to the dustbins while our neighbors die for lack of the same  have become so 'modern' that whoever talks about them is probably recommended for cerebral scan-in case of anything. If anything,everyone should be for themselves and God  our  common denominator,right?   But wait a minute!Why have we become so selfish and insensitive of late?Why have we developed  such a callous heart and sense of disregard for our neighbors. Maybe its because we have never taken a nature walk to the Kenyatta National Hospital's much- talked about wards and watch  how dire our help is needed. Again,we might have not have gotten the time  to visit Good Samaritan's Children's Home,Mathare. Until then,everything will make little sense and indeed so normal.

                 

I doubt if it is rewarding  to keep a stock of snazzy outfits  while someone in the neighborhood is specifically struggling to cover the 'essential parts' with the little they own. Honestly,you will feel more blessed and indeed you will be,when you give such a person a single piece of linen than treating your buddies with litres of Bluemoon (no one said it's bad). The Holy Bible is  not mum in this either.(1John 3;17);But if anyone  has  the worlds goods and sees his brother in need,yet  closes his heart against him,how does God's love abide in him? Let's share what we have with the less privileged. No one would chose poverty if choice existed and all we own is as a result of God's Grace. It's not a requirement to give material assets to prove this. The ten seconds you will spend with the sick telling them that,''all will be well with your health'' or the thirty seconds you will keep the dumped adopted baby smiling with her toothless gum is enough to translate into lifetime moments of memories for them and indeed you shall have done your part to humanity. Give it a try. If I were you,during my birthday,before I throw in a rocked party of 'trusted' friends to help me usher in a new dawn, I would first make that one person change his hunger-infested diet,I would first cover that 'innocence' of the child whose ''responsible''parents willingly  donated to the dustbin after the ''accident''. When we give to the poor,we only become better off since our father in Heaven is never asleep. I will do my part to humanity,because it is  a noble thing to do. But remember,a bone to the dog is not charity,charity is the bone shared  with the dog,when you are just as hungry  as the dog. 

Gabriel Dinda is the chief Editor for Kenyatta University Career  Magazine 2014

olewedindainitiative@gmail.com

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Social Media Now devour the Society

                       

Social sites were created purposely for entertainment, socialization, relieving stress and to make the world a global village where access to friends is not hindered by distance. When they emerged and took center stage as sites for communication, they did serve their purpose of uniting the world, friends, organizations and family entities. It was like an addiction where people could be locked in these sites for hours exchanging jokes and updates that didn’t elicit any emotions. They were real entertainment joints that didn’t raise the antenna of parents and were the antidote for stress relief.

Indeed, the number social site users has grown unprecedentedly over the years. An indication that the world is embracing these sites and they are here to stay. However, of great concern is the direction that social media is taking on a daily basis. 

Social sites have become conduits of emotional imbalance where people hide behind the buttons to show their dissatisfaction with relationships, office work, meetings and their bosses. They have become battlefields for settling scores where husbands, wives, priests and lectures are insulted in public. Relationships that were once considered private affairs are no longer viewed so. Instead,  breakups are now updated daily.

Have you ever open your account and met an inbox from a lady with complicated name promising heaven and openly admitting to have fallen for your profile picture? Upon viewing her details, her picture doesn’t disappoint either. She presents you with her email contact for further communication away from the social site that she claim to visit daily.  Welcome to the world of con men in social media.

Ethnicity and pornographic sites have not escaped these sites either. Group pages whose names don’t hide their intentions are created on a daily basis, pages that houses and promotes inter-tribal insults and exchange of unpleasant words that revoke ethnicity and propels inter-community hatred. Nude photos have continued to fly around social sites without regards their audience, depicting a rotten society. 

Pictures of dead relatives, accident victims and grotesque pictures taken from hospital beds and mortuaries have continued to dominate social media, making people to open their accounts with a lot of caution because you never sure of the picture that will bump into your eye in front of friends and family members.

It is true we are living in the information age and the benefits of social media in the 21^st century cannot be quashed away, but lets us use these sites in ways that makes them retain their intended purpose. 

Reagan Nyadimo

Associate Editor, Career Magazine 2014

Kenyatta University

Published in Daily Nation Wed, 11, 2013 pg 14

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Generation Of Book Hogs

 I have no apologies to make but the reality is that we are breeding a generation of book hogs. We have never stopped for once to think about the repercussion of steering our children into believing that education is the only means to an end. We are so much obsessed with performance that we forget each one of us is endowed differently. We don’t even care whether we are taking our kids to their early grave. The society should stop this madness of using education as the sole yardstick in measuring the potential of individuals and their ultimate success or failure in life.

Our Institutions have lost it. What happened to the P.E breaks? Instead of identifying innate talents in our children, they are drilling them to pass exams. Passing exams alone is not enough. They should be in a position to apply everything in their daily lives otherwise we are wasting time, money and resources raising book Warmers. No wonder the outcry by the corporate world about the quality of students that universities are Channing out.

One wonders what happened to those days when children could run and steal “maembe” (mangoes) from “wahindi” (Asians), those days when children could go to the lake or river side and learn to swim by themselves, days when children could fetch clay for themselves and mold, those days of making balls using “oseke” (straws) and polythene bags? Remember hide and seek games? What happened to those creative days? Look at the emerging institutions, there is hardly space for pupils to play.

What we are witnessing today is a complete absurdity. A situation where pupils go to school from Mon-Sun full day in full school attire. Pupils only break for 5 days for Christmas and New Year. Take a walk around the estates: children are walking with bags left and right from morning to evening despite being a holiday. This should not be a fight for Prof Kaimenya alone but the whole society.

Parents should know that Zuckerberg, and other billionaires like Micro soft founder Bill Gates and Apples late tech giant Steve Jobs did not have  to work terribly hard, spending hours in library, churches ( to read during holidays) and social halls to be where they are today. Let children identify their talents and socialize with their friends. There is so much more in life than just books, books and books.

Reagan Nyadimo, Ku

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