Kaffeerösterei

Kaffeerösterei

Donnerstag, 10. August 2017

Kenya: The eternal catwalk

The good, the bad and the ugly
Kenya is a beauty. It offers everything a human being can wish for or hope of. Vast landscapes, rich soil, an almost perfect climate. And so many happy people, who deserve the best to come out of all of this.

Still a long way to go.
But greed and the hunger for quick money in this country is disturbing. Some might call it cultural heritage, maybe a type of survival of the fittest. I often wonder whether after colonialism only the color of the skin has changed, while the attitude is the same? Have the white masters become black masters to dominate people?

Education is key
Education is the key to unite people. Wherever people do not know or understand better is, where those with a little bit more knowledge succeed. This worked for centuries before colonialism and it still is at work. Only the times are changing, not slowly but dramatically: the digital age has brought knowledge to the last and remote spot. Even illiterate elderly can make a choice today and especially they know who and what is good for them or not.

For a future in harmony and balance
The young on the other hand have all the cards in their hands and need to learn about life. Wild, rough, studied, calm. Whatever. And still every generations has its own crossroads to pass, has to make new decisions and influence their lives as well as the lifes of others.

There will still be the wrong motifs and there will still be power, domination and suppression. It is all up to the new generations to roll the dice and make the better if not the best out of it and overcome the bad.

And as through all the centuries before them and those ahead of them, there are laws, judicial institutions as well as moral standards. The only thing that counts will be to make good use of all the rules that create and make a society. In the end it is as simple as that: Say "Yes" when its "Yes" and say "Never" when its "No". Don't cry it out loud, just say it very determined and make clear you mean it.

Big Hopes
A story like the following will happen again, but it will be of lesser and lesser impact in a future society of Kenya. I once was invited to join one of those many shows in the mid-90s that institution do at the end of a three months costly catwalk class, while luring young people, mostly young women into the dream of becoming international fashion models.

The venue was a place on Museum Hill. I don't remember the name. About thirty young women and two or three guys were showing the skills they had learnt. I was impressed, not by what they had learnt, but more of the positive attitude all of them had about themselves. At least going to this school gave those participating a lot of self-confidence.

After a while the keynote speaker, a Kenyan and top manager of an international energy company started the unavoidable chit-chat. Slimy, boring and a lot in praise of people like himself, the aged and successful businessmen, the sugar-daddy style. Finally, he said something like so much beauty was here tonight and that it was metaphorically speaking Kenya that is so beautiful. Blabla.

He ended like that: Let us all work hard to preserve this beautiful country and make sure that young females and women in this country are having equal opportunities and the same rights.

Grim realities - The end of the story
After half an hour my friend, who had invited me to the show and who also was a proud participant came up to me, furiously. "Do you know what just happened?" she asked me. "For sure, I don't know" I said.

"This bastard (the keynote speaker) has sent somebody to me, inviting me to join him at his table." So she went to hear what he had to say. And what he said, was like repeating the fate of Kenya, repeating its eternal catwalk, which is more like a ball and chain experience, a prison song. He simply offered her a deal, which was as immodest as promising. He asked her to visit him in his office next week. He a had a nice job waiting for her. "I simply left the table with no words at all" she finished.

The meaning of real vs nice
So, you Kenya: Don't join the leaders at their table when they promise you nice jobs and still don't give you the details of the job. Make "nice" a no-go word and put yourself, your skills, your diploma on top. A "nice" job has no meaning and is therefore easy to identify as a hoax.


Real footprints are here to stay
Only real jobs have requirements that everybody can see and understand. When somebody offers you a nice job, think of the word sinister. The one who offers looks so nice to you in this moment, but is the most sinister character. And never forget: only real people leave an imprint on the future of a country. Leave your own footprint!












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