Growing up, I was taught that the basic needs were; food, clothing and shelter. Fine. But don’t you think it’s high time we start teaching our kids that sanitation, healthcare and education are basic needs too.
Look at it this way:
What is a man without education?
What is a man dieing due to diseases spread as a result of poor sanitation. Eg. cholera, typhoid, polio, and ascariasis. ?
What is a man earning minimum wage,
but is rendered homeless once he (or his family) are hit by a disease that threatens to sweep away the assets and savings of his entire clan?
What is life without hope in the things that matter most?
[SIZE=1]*replace man with woman where applicable … ama ukae na mafeminazi pale>>>>>[/SIZE]
I think basic needs is subjected to geographical location and economic status. Kids in America replaces"basic needs" to “rights”. Africans don’t know of rights but privileges. Privilege to eat, privilege to good housing and so on. Now I hear their govt want to make access to Internet to be a right. So I agree we have misconstrued priorities
with education you will digress to sanitation,health and other basics.like now for example sio lazima uambiwe kukunya bila kuosha mkono ni muhimu you should have known that since nappy days([SIZE=1]i know…they are called diapers[/SIZE]).There are lifestyle diseases ambazo watu hujiletea wenyewe.When i say education i mean “umleavyo akuavyo type of shit”
:D:D:D That privilege bit is hilarious. But you’re right, Africans need to change how they approach life. This attitude of “we live to eat, and eat to live” isn’t a good one at all. I believe change starts in the mind. We need to let our kids know that a good education and clean drinking water aren’t a privilege but essential tools of survival. That’s the only way they stand a fair chance of competing with their counterparts in developed countries.
Education is essential, but it’s limited, and that’s why we need good healthcare in the mix of basic need. Show me one educated (and employed) Kenyan and I’ll show you someone who is one disease away from poverty, because not many people value health insurance covers and what not. To them, it’s a by-the-way.
Education means having young Wanjiku understand that the makodofias that fall around in her village are worth money elsewhere na kujua vile anaweza take that opportunity to build a better life for her and her community.
Otherwise you end up in a situation like our tea and flower sector o where you have local leadership with degrees, but no clue about how to utilize their own resources, and entire counties of slaves on farms. Tea pickers get paid 265 bob per day.
Greed is also part of the reason our education isn’t helping many. I’m sure their bosses could pay them that much by the hour if they wanted, but they want it all. The mentality of casual laborers deserve nothing because they lack a good education, is killing our agric. sector --on our very watch.
Mteso @Abba has put it right. We should look at them as rights the same way we view the right to live. Education does not necessarily translate to sanitation the way many people think. Again, the government should ensure the people get these rights, not forgeting that citizens themselves have their part to play
To add to that, how many PhD holders in kenya can tell how autoinflammation works -many and how about treatment- non yet they have phds ? Instead they will yap in lecture halls how a certain MSc fellow in Britain was able to do that.
But the government has a bigger part to play. If we had clinics, schools and sewerage companies that offer A+ services, this country could be on another level. All our Nairobi governor can do is visit Rwanda, report to us how clean Kigali is, then do very little to improve our city’s sanitation. I die a little every time I think of kids playing with waste water in slums and underdeveloped suburbs.
In this country people have an easier time buying morning-after pills, condoms and bundles to watch porn, but they have a hard time remembering the last time they dewormed themselves. So, I believe we’re set, as far as sex goes.
*For some sex is a utility they pay for every payday.:)
