KIBERA: Beneath the Billowing Smoke.

I have a way with words but this one has left me completely sobered. The sad thing is that this man seems genuinely serious in what he says and some of the comments there in are an endorsement of his very utterances. He doesn't look like your average joe and he has no telltale signs of being drunk or on drugs. This whole debacle is beyond condemnation. Kibera needs our love and support now more than ever. We have bashed, we have belittled, we have insulted, we have walked the holier than though road. Maybe it's time we sort to understand the underlying principles behind their actions and reasoning. Maybe it’s time we understood what binds them. Why would one chose to wallow in poverty for politics sake? Why would you harbour so much hate for someone that you would not even allow them to use the tax they collect from you to better your life. It’s a moral dilemma that requires all of us to hush out the noise so that we can listen to the silent cries. Kibera has been through decades of mental enslavement (whether self engineered or systematically indoctrinated) and we shall not change that overnight while mounted on our high horses.

The mind is a powerful organ, what you believe, you become. Kibera has adopted a set of beliefs and we are trying to preach our own set of beliefs, it won’t work. You can emancipate the body but until the mind becomes a part of the emancipation, it becomes an effort in futility.There’s need for more showing and less telling. They need not feel cornered or left out in the cold. Without using big words just for the sake of using them, a genuine paradigm shift must take place in Kibera. The real enemies of Kibera are not those allocating cash for necessary projects in Kibera. The real enemies of Kibera are those making incitements from the comfort of their office desks and press conference lounges, those tweeting and walling support for the barbaric acts from their expensive gadgets and when the smoke dies down and the dragon exhausts it breath of fire, it is not they that will run the risk of having a flying toilet land on their path. Their MP Shahs and Aga Khans will still be there awaiting to receive them when they check in sick or for a routine check up.

 It is said that one day the poor will have nothing left to eat but the rich and if not reversed, Kibera is approaching that day real fast. It’s human nature to bash that which we don’t understand and true to it, we cannot bring ourselves to understand why Kibera has decided to self destruct but hey who has tried love? Love and genuine love devoid of judgement brings understanding. We have seen great talent and moments of human triumphs come out of Kibera. Let’s focus on those small acts of triumphs and help Kibera change one day at a time. There can be only one permanent revolution — a moral one; the regeneration of the inner man – Leo Tolstoy.  #KiberaNeedsLove