Shortages, Shortages, Shortages. That is what we are beginning to experience as the the drought lingers on. Last night the electricity was not back at 6 pm as they had promised. The excuse was a transformer had blown. I went to bed before power came and woke up to no water to bath. This is a sad affair and if you take it a notch higher and you find many people don’t have a home, land, job or food and poverty is everywhere! We as a country need to address these shortages.

When there are shortages, no one is immune to the suffering it causes. When a Nation like Kenya or a society is mismanaged not even the leaders or rich are immune to the effects of the suffering. Looking at crime, road carnage, aids, etc when all hell breaks loose it knows not class… or status. It gets everyone, the degree and speed will vary, but let no one think its not affecting everyone me included. WHY LIE ? To me it is a WAKE UP CALL?

The media does set the mood of a country. From my own experience the media fuels perceptions that lead to talks which people then run with or without even knowing the person they are talking about.

Is it me or is the media is still stuck on warlike utterances like we were in election mode?
They need to set the tempo with topics that are very much in the hearts of most Kenyans. The direction should be one of change, forward planning.

Time is precious and the reason Kenya lacks behind is all the booze and wasted talk. One thing you note is a constant battle of divide and rule with politicking while Kenya people want change, hope and a positive way forward.

We need to rally and infuse a sense of Patriotism to cope with the myriads of issues we are facing and will encounter in the future.

While en route coming home I decided to stop in Dubai at the Atlantis Hotel. It is amazing how many young Kenyans are working and earning a living that pays them double if not triple of a similar job back home.
But more than that it gives them an opportunity to work and earn an honest living. This is the resilience you find with Kenyans.
It is nice that they are so happy to see fellow Kenyans which reaffirms to me that our bond as a people is being Kenyan. It is not in our tribe or party? That is the patriotism that we should preach and practice back home, that we are one people united by the same values each of us hold dear in our heart!

Related articles by Zemanta

• Grace Wanjiku : Kenya (kiva.org)

How then can we help?

What I want is to enroll Kenyans and friends of Kenya to pull together for Kenyans through contributions in these three areas.

1. A donation through One In A Million of at least Kshs100 per month from one million of us in the Kenya population will go to great length to alleviate extreme poverty in our nation.
2. Contribution by groups of 10,000 Kenyans at Omega10000 for investment in other business ventures.
3. And a payment of just 1 shilling for brand and consumer participation in poverty reduction.

Register where you feel most suited, if you care enough and would like to be part of the effort to reduce poverty in our country then hang with me.

I have the drive and determination to make all this succeed and have and intend to continue surrounding myself with people of integrity all of whom shall own the projects and work with a common vision. Do not take the back seat. Get on the bus and get involved.

In these hard economic times even the rich are behaving like they need aid. They justify cutting back on charity or even investing. I say it’s the wrong approach stop behaving like a pauper when you really living like a king in comparison. Okay so you can’t travel first class, is there anything wrong with business or economy? You are still in the category with the clarion call- I’ve made it! – your home still enjoys three square meals, a fancy car, a wardrobe, an occasional holiday, a job or business, a bank account, assets, an occasional drink or meal with the guys and girls to work out the stresses of life, a gym membership to work out the excesses, its your life and its nothing less then a success. Don’t stop uttering these words I’ve made it – to avoid the call or responsibility of being part of the solution.

Please visit your chosen project above and register and give me hope that we can avert a revolution and be proud I mean really proud of being Kenyan!

Well it’s simple. I am matured, a bit too late. I have realized that there is so much wrong amid our lives and its time to act. The truth is it’s too darn late. I wish I had the strength and the resources to have addressed poverty sooner! But what keeps me on track is the saying – it’s never too late?

I believe we have serious problems in Kenya and we desperately need to start chatting – honesty being the key word. We need to chat to the point where it (our honesty) comes out. We are a self destructive nation that believes going to church every Sunday or to the mosque or temple makes it all right? And when that is done we are back to being who we are until the next hour with the Almighty which I call living the big lie…amid all the wrongs. We also have convinced ourselves that we are great and everything is great too and all the problems are the colonials, our politicians, the donors, or just someone else’s problem to fix? It’s called passing the buck!

So why this blog? Poverty is our problem to fix! And if we don’t address it with the urgency it deserves then I liken the post election violence to just a tip of the iceberg or rather a trailer to a horror movie that has yet to begin! At this point I want you to take a deep breath and read the words of a great man:

“The mother of revolution and crime is poverty” by Aristotle the Ancient Greek Philosopher.

A point to ponder; look around you…Is poverty on the decrease? Is Vision 2030 working? Are we truly on course with the world leaders pledge under goal No. 1 of the Millennium Development Goals that is – To eradicate extreme poverty and hunger by the year 2015?

Maybe these questions can make us examine our individual roles as Kenyans in addressing these issues by brain storming and coming up with solutions. This is at least a start to our proactive stance!