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Post by Omwenga on Nov 25, 2012 1:09:24 GMT 3
Most of us who visit home regularly from the Diaspora rarely if at all find ourselves visiting other than our own villages, which is quite normal. The other day while visiting Kenya, however, I had occasion to go on a field trip with a senior official from the Ministry of Health that initially was to cover several community clinics in Naivasha, Nakuru and Elburgon but, due to unavoidable circumstances, this was scaled back to just visiting several clinics in Naivasha as we had to return to Nairobi. The whole exercise was intended to gather information directly from the care-providers with a view of improving their delivery of health services, including identifying enabling tools to make their critical clinics more modernized and efficient. Two things stuck to my mind from this field trip. First, the dedication and commitment of these basic care providers, who double up as owner/operators of these clinics. Every one of the owner/operators we visited showed a level of genuine desire to provide basic health-care and not one gave me the impression they were in for their own aggrandizement. Contrast that with the hawks we often have to deal with elsewhere with overstretched hands asking what's in it for them and never mind what the business proposal is or how it would benefit the country. Second, just looking at the abject poverty surrounding many of these clinics was quite an experience for anyone to behold. There we were riding in our SUVs into these communities which basically are slums and as we are rolling by what somehow is a way meandering through these jam-packed residential areas, you could up close look and see the eyes of an impoverished child that says it all. And the first question that comes to mind and I loudly asked those riding with me, is why? Why in 2012 we can have this much poverty still devastating many an innocent child, let alone their adult families? In a way, this was a rhetorical question for we know the answer. The bigger question and one Kenyans must answer come 2013 is who really among those vying would be best placed at the top as president not only to change this culture of status quo on everything, but to really do something to make a dent in addressing the serious problem of rural and urban poverty. I know many of us are doing what we can to alleviate the poverty from an individual point of view but it's obviously going to take a collective effort by both us as individuals and the government formulating and implementing policies that can finally seriously begin to tackle head on and eliminate or greatly reduce this devastating trio-problems of poverty, malnourishment and poor or lack of healthy living conditions. Rather than basing voting along tribal lines or alliances, Kenyans must focus on asking a fundamental question and that is, which among those seeking the top seat cares and has actually done something about alleviating these unacceptable living conditions and overall who has a proven record of catering to the needy and not the otherwise well to do. Casting a vote based on an honest answer of that question will for the first time give us a leader at the national level who can actually finally make a difference in the majority of our people's lives who otherwise will remain languishing in the same poverty and poor living conditions. Let's all reflect upon this and share and inform widely. It's the least we can do. |
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Post by mank on Nov 25, 2012 7:26:01 GMT 3
Most of us who visit home regularly from the Diaspora rarely if at all find ourselves visiting other than our own villages, which is quite normal. .... Omwenga, please! We at least have to land at an airport, and that is not likely in our villages. ... and if we land somewhere close to a town I would count on some curiosity, if nothing else, to send us on at least a day's tour of that Kenya's symbol of modernity. What's special about your trip is that you get the occasion to go on a field trip with a senior official from the Ministry of Health. You could have gone there directly instead of starting with labelling people. Most of us who vist home regularly from the Diaspora are rarely, if at all that connected with the ministers. |
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Post by Omwenga on Nov 25, 2012 9:06:19 GMT 3
Most of us who visit home regularly from the Diaspora rarely if at all find ourselves visiting other than our own villages, which is quite normal. .... Omwenga, please! We at least have to land at an airport, and that is not likely in our villages. ... and if we land somewhere close to a town I would count on some curiosity, if nothing else, to send us on at least a day's tour of that Kenya's symbol of modernity. What's special about your trip is that you get the occasion to go on a field trip with a senior official from the Ministry of Health. You could have gone there directly instead of starting with labelling people. Most of us who vist home regularly from the Diaspora are rarely, if at all that connected with the ministers.
You have obviously missed the point of my post while opting to focus on the irrelevant. To some people, the glass is always half-full, to others it's always half-empty; a naysayer will never fail to find reason to condemn or otherwise trash even where none readily exist and certainly no good deed goes unpunished. These are facts I have long learned to accept as a part of life. I am often actually laughing when seeing a manifestation of this as I have on this occasion. |
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Post by mank on Nov 25, 2012 18:51:58 GMT 3
Omwenga, the imagery of glasses half full or half empty don't apply here. And if something is irrelevant to the point that it should not catch someone else's eye then you should not write it down for the public to read. You wrote what I responded to. You just need to avoid condescending narratives and not expect that you can wish them away after you have written them down.
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Post by Omwenga on Nov 25, 2012 19:29:13 GMT 3
Omwenga, the imagery of glasses half full or half empty don't apply here. And if something is irrelevant to the point that it should not catch someone else's eye then you should not write it down for the public to read. You wrote what I responded to. You just need to avoid condescending narratives and not expect that you can wish them away after you have written them down.
First, the half-full/half-empty idiom applies in the point I was making in response to you, if you can't see how then it's best to leave it there than you merely saying it doesn't apply here. Second, everything I stated in my blog is relevant to the point of the blog which you obviously missed; you chose to focus on the irrelevant to make the non-point you tried to make. Third, I do not write "condescending narratives" if that's how you see what I write, all I can tell you is you're mistaken. Finally, I don't tell you or anyone how to blog or what to say in posts so kindly reciprocate by not telling me how to blog or what to say in my posts; leave them alone if you can't stand them than trying to waste time offering spurious and ill-advised criticism. |
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Post by Omwenga on Nov 26, 2012 0:19:42 GMT 3
For those who missed it, the import of this blog is the question of poverty and the widening gap between the poor and the rich. I in particular posited that we should judge and decide on who to vote for based on their stand and/or proven record as to helping the needy or at least doing something about it besides promises of what they can do once elected. One would have to assume in the weeks ahead we shall see these records come to bear witness as to where these leaders stand on this critical issue but in Congratulations To PM Raila Odinga for Looking After The Education of Our Children, omwenga.com/2012/11/01/congratulations-to-prime-minister-raila-odinga-for-looking-after-the-education-of-our-children/, I noted some of what Raila and our other First Lady Mama Ida are doing in their individual capacity to educate poor children. I am also happy to note the PM has reiterated his commitment to doing something about closing the gap between the poor and rich in pledging to set-up grants for the youth to start businesses once he is reelected as our next president as it has just been reported in standardmedia.co.ke/?articleID=2000071497&story_title=Kenya-Raila-pledges-to-set-up-grants-kitty-for-youthIt goes without saying the PM is once again providing solutions for our country's myriad of problems when all his opponents are spending all their waking hours even in their dreams is trying to figure out how best to gang up against Raila and "stop" him from being reelected as president without offering any solution for any of our country's problems. In their view, the country's biggest problem is Raila crushing their individual or collective political ambitions, which is really a shame not because that should never be and cannot be a valid reason to oppose anyone for office, but because we have well informed and educated adults of voting age that support that shortsighted and outdated view of engaging in politics far removed from what really matters as far as our beloved country is concerned and that is, electing leadership with skills and ability to bring about progress and development, not merely advancing their narrow-minded and entirely selfish political ambitions. |
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Post by mank on Nov 26, 2012 0:49:41 GMT 3
Omwenga, the imagery of glasses half full or half empty don't apply here. And if something is irrelevant to the point that it should not catch someone else's eye then you should not write it down for the public to read. You wrote what I responded to. You just need to avoid condescending narratives and not expect that you can wish them away after you have written them down.
... Second, everything I stated in my blog is relevant to the point of the blog which you obviously missed; you chose to focus on the irrelevant to make the non-point you tried to make.
... So something was relevant when you wrote it but it becomes irrelevant when I call you out for it? Why is it relevant to claim that folks in the diaspora rarely visit any place outside their village when they visit the country, but then irrelevant when I tell you that such a claim is unfounded and condescending? I see the main points you are making about your trip, but I have nothing to contest in what I am not commenting on. Of course political candidates should be judged not just by what they promise, but their history especially what they did when they had opportunities to do something of the sort they are promising to do once elected. They should be judged by not only the good they have done, but the bad as well. |
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Post by Omwenga on Nov 26, 2012 1:09:19 GMT 3
Mank,
... Second, everything I stated in my blog is relevant to the point of the blog which you obviously missed; you chose to focus on the irrelevant to make the non-point you tried to make.
... So something was relevant when you wrote it but it becomes irrelevant when I call you out for it? Why is it relevant to claim that folks in the diaspora rarely visit any place outside their village when they visit the country, but then irrelevant when I tell you that such a claim is unfounded and condescending? I see the main points you are making about your trip, but I have nothing to contest in what I am not commenting on. Of course political candidates should be judged not just by what they promise, but their history especially what they did when they had opportunities to do something of the sort they are promising to do once elected. They should be judged by not only the good they have done, but the bad as well. I can now see why you're mistaken in believing that I said anything condescending because, in your view, you thought by saying those from the Diaspora visiting home rarely visit other than their villages, you assumed I meant to the exclusion of everywhere else. That's not what I said nor meant. All I said and meant is, in my view, those of us who visit home from the Diaspora if we go to the village, it's likely going to be our home base villages, not other communities villages. That does not mean people don't do otherwise; I am sure they do but my point was, this last visit home I had the opportunity to visit other than my own village and by that I am excluding urban and suburban areas. Hope that clears this up for you and at the same time erases out of your mind that I have been condescending; I have not and cannot be because that's not who I am and couldn't be even if I wanted to because that's not how I was raised! |
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Post by mank on Nov 26, 2012 2:24:32 GMT 3
So something was relevant when you wrote it but it becomes irrelevant when I call you out for it? Why is it relevant to claim that folks in the diaspora rarely visit any place outside their village when they visit the country, but then irrelevant when I tell you that such a claim is unfounded and condescending?
I see the main points you are making about your trip, but I have nothing to contest in what I am not commenting on. Of course political candidates should be judged not just by what they promise, but their history especially what they did when they had opportunities to do something of the sort they are promising to do once elected. They should be judged by not only the good they have done, but the bad as well.
I can now see why you're mistaken in believing that I said anything condescending because, in your view, you thought by saying those from the Diaspora visiting home rarely visit other than their villages, you assumed I meant to the exclusion of everywhere else.
That's not what I said nor meant.
All I said and meant is, in my view, those of us who visit home from the Diaspora if we go to the village, it's likely going to be our home base villages, not other communities villages.
That does not mean people don't do otherwise; I am sure they do but my point was, this last visit home I had the opportunity to visit other than my own village and by that I am excluding urban and suburban areas.
Hope that clears this up for you and at the same time erases out of your mind that I have been condescending; I have not and cannot be because that's not who I am and couldn't be even if I wanted to because that's not how I was raised!Ok Omwenga, I accept your clarification. Next time though, its best to think about what someone is saying rather than labelling them as naysayers who focus on the irrelevant. I think you do too much of that, except when someone is in full agreement with you. What you explain now to have been your intent is very different from what you actually wrote, and you could have clarified that intent from the first response. All in all, I see your point now that you explained. |
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Post by kamalet on Nov 26, 2012 8:36:09 GMT 3
Second, just looking at the abject poverty surrounding many of these clinics was quite an experience for anyone to behold. There we were riding in our SUVs into these communities which basically are slums and as we are rolling by what somehow is a way meandering through these jam-packed residential areas, you could up close look and see the eyes of an impoverished child that says it all. And the first question that comes to mind and I loudly asked those riding with me, is why? Why in 2012 we can have this much poverty still devastating many an innocent child, let alone their adult families? In a way, this was a rhetorical question for we know the answer. The bigger question and one Kenyans must answer come 2013 is who really among those vying would be best placed at the top as president not only to change this culture of status quo on everything, but to really do something to make a dent in addressing the serious problem of rural and urban poverty. I know many of us are doing what we can to alleviate the poverty from an individual point of view but it's obviously going to take a collective effort by both us as individuals and the government formulating and implementing policies that can finally seriously begin to tackle head on and eliminate or greatly reduce this devastating trio-problems of poverty, malnourishment and poor or lack of healthy living conditions. Rather than basing voting along tribal lines or alliances, Kenyans must focus on asking a fundamental question and that is, which among those seeking the top seat cares and has actually done something about alleviating these unacceptable living conditions and overall who has a proven record of catering to the needy and not the otherwise well to do. Casting a vote based on an honest answer of that question will for the first time give us a leader at the national level who can actually finally make a difference in the majority of our people's lives who otherwise will remain languishing in the same poverty and poor living conditions. Let's all reflect upon this and share and inform widely. It's the least we can do. Is it not a real shame that you are not at the forefront of Peter Kenneth's campaign which at least is not based on tribal alliance or supplication to tribal elders with a thousand apologies? At least PK has proven that he can work to alleviate poverty in his own back yard which is not something you can say of Raila and that is in 10 years in parliament! Which is why you need not have aided and abetted the rape of the country's meagre resources riding an SUV to Naivasha whilst a trip in a No. 8 matatu would have taken you to see the abject poverty in one of the contenders for President's constituency which after 20 years as MP has changed little and perhaps is the leading destination fo slum tourism in the region! |
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