Business Daily (Nairobi)
Ibrahim Mwathane
11 May 2008
opinion
Nairobi — The statement that we are facing hard economic times is commonplace. But alas, all Initial Public Offers (IPOs) floated by any of our listed companies get grossly oversubscribed!
Quite inconsistent with the oft stated hard economic times; come to think of it.
But, yes indeed, times are hard for a very large number of Kenyans, struggling daily to make ends meet. Most of these are to be found in our informal settlements and the countryside. Feeding and educating for this group comes hard. They watch as the good life passes on. So, could you make a difference to any one of them in your lifetime?
We must, therefore, thank the print and electronic media for routinely drawing our attention to the plight of many in society from time to time. The many cases of hard up students, wielding excellent KCPE or KCSE grades come to mind. Once highlighted, most such students have swiftly attracted benefactors who have supported them through school, eventually changing their circumstances and their lives.
Others have been lifted from greatly challenged health conditions and proceeded to receive excellent medical attention on account of wellwishers.
This is great spirit and we laud the individuals and corporate groups who have promptly lent a helping hand. But the challenge is limitless and we must not tire.
The print recently carried reports about a certain Kakenya Ntaiya lately honoured for her efforts to empower Kenyan girls. She received the Rising Voices Award from the Vital Voices Global Partnership, a US-based non-governmental organisation that works to empower women around the world. Her feat? Raising $1 million to build a boarding school for girls in Enoosen, her home village in Trans Mara.
Ntaiya narrowly escaped early marriage and later proceeded for studies in the US. Now 29, Ntaiya plans to return to Enoosen in July to embark on the girls' school project in appreciation of the challenged local circumstances. What a good community gift? What a giving heart? Forwards, this project will touch many.
Elsewhere, in Ongata Rongai, one David Chege Njoroge has established a charity Computer College to help needy students acquire Information Technology skills....for free!! Sounds unbelievable but, in keeping with philanthropy, quite plausible. And Njoroge has reasons.
He himself was a primary beneficiary from benefactors. He reportedly received support from wellwishers and children's homes to successfully plough through basic school then proceed to the US where he worked hard to find his way up. Running the free facility is a great challenge but Njoroge reckons that his very progress would never have been possible without the help of others.
He says he is committed to helping young people since he knows what it feels like when one has neither hope nor money. At only 27, Njoroge exudes great philanthropic spirit and should act as a benchmark challenge to many of us.
The two Kenyans above are reasonably young, both under 30. Yet, see the community targets they have set for themselves? Through giving in effort, thought and in kind. I bet none of them counts account by the millions. This means many of us too have inexhaustible potential to touch others if these two can. And let's face it. This is about attitude, not tonnes of money. One can give and touch the needy in many ways.
Let's all give a thought to this matter. Help a bright but otherwise needy student, support any of the numerous welfare homes, promote some youth groups or play patron to your old school to urge on performance. Please try and do something beyond yourself!
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