In reference to a previous post "Me Myself and…Us", Akin commented thus:
"Question is, what really can be done about it? Most of the wealth of our talent is off the shores of Africa. A lot of us are NOT where we can create effective change. Personally, I live in London and I do wish create an impact, but yet I know that without enough influence (you may call it clout), I may not be able to do much. So I think to myself ... maybe I should make enough money, get enough people of like minds and move back to my country. But even then, how do I change a Nation's way of thinking when all everybody ever asks is "what is in it for me?" rather than genuinely ask "what can I offer?""
I know this is a question that many people may have at one time asked themselves. For some it is a daily inner-conflict. Do we just choose what some may call complacency and focus on our individual progress and live happily ever after? Do we choose to put our skills and talents and ideas into some constructive framework with the aim of collective (national?) progress? Do we trust that the former suggestion will somehow fulfill the latter objectives?
In the spirit of organisation (trying to find a place where ideas can be converted into actions and later yield results), both Akin and I would love to hear what others have to say/suggest/challenge/contribute/voice…
Monday, October 10, 2005
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6 comments:
good questions that some of us struggle with.
I think the first thing that we hope for/demand is the right to absentee vote since as you said we are dispersed around the world. Meanwhile, if we can afford it, to go back home and vote for the kind of people that we feel will enact the changes we want. The parliament site was something that i thought would help us follow the local politics so we can make informed choices when voting, but i guess its not running.Ultimately an impartial website or even a community of bloggers from each constituency can keep us updated.(lol a kenyan can dream) i bet you've been following Kenyan Pundit's reporting from Kenya, with the growth of ICT in Kenya we cant lose faith. It might take a min...still optimistic!
Ok, so suppose we do manage to facilitate absentee votes and somewhat objective reporting… we are still left with the same candidates from which to choose from. And choosing a lesser evil is never going to get us out of the seemingly vicious cycle that we're in. How do we get to the core of the problem and revolutionize it?
In his book “Black African Cinema”, Nwachukwu Frank Ukadike talks about analysts of Africa’s economic stagnation casting their future hope on “mental change, a sense of responsibility and direction”(John W. Forje)
I think truly that developing a culture of responsibility is one of the key things that needs to happen in Kenya. We can have several of these discussions, we can all say our piece and build those castles in the air but we cannot leave them to float up there forever. If we truly are about it, we must accept the responsibility to make it real. Often when we are met with a difficult problem that may not have any immediate tangible detrimental effect on our current lives, it's very easy to push it back to "another time". I know I'm asking a lot (and believe me I am asking it of myself as well if not especially) but we've got to hash this out. First hash out the discussion then hash out the action points.
It's true, we can't lose faith. But we cannot live on faith alone. It will take a minute... a really active, involved, and devoted minute.
Although this emerged from a discourse on the challenges faced by African cinema, I think that it can be extrapolated to other areas:
“Without organization of resources we cannot flourish at home, and dozens of African and Arab intellectuals, film-makers, technicians, writers, journalists and leaders have had to leave their countries, often despite themselves, to contribute to the development and overdevelopment of countries that don’t need them, and that use their excesses to dominate us. This will continue until we grasp the crucial importance of this cultural and economic strategy, and create our own networks of film production and distribution, liberating ourselves from all foreign monopolies.”
(Med Hondo in his essay, “What is Cinema For Us?)
probably all of ous away from home are faced with these questions.
personally, i think our aim should be to help develop the small communities we come from (shagz). because to be honest, there's hardly a way we can make major changes in nairobi. so we should focus on first helping our immediate family, then our relatives, then the neighbour, then the local church, school, and so on...
Don't feel so sad out there , you guys do so much for Kenya and i mean it. I am talking about the developing real property market, there are so many guys who are investing in real estate from outside Kenya. Look at the stock market, so many guys are now able to control the market from outside especially due to the a bit trusted Government. Sometimes you have to accept that you are able to do more for your country outside there than when you are here. Most people are supported from abroad. As for us our earning power is so low to make a difference in the country.
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