Ignorance, what is ignorance? We all know the definition. The moment I was born I swear I could smell the dust...:) when I started crawling I was crawling on a dusty floor. Otside the house, dust too! Everywhere was dusty and muddy when it rained. But I didn't care because I was a toddler.
As soon as I started walking that's when I started 'seeing' things. I could see that rich kid in church dressed expensively by parents who seemed to have impeccable taste! Woah, I would whisper to myself. Keep in mind that there was nothing I could do in my situation. I would tell myself that my single mum is poor and there is nothing we could do. I still remember her look when she was placing a big bowl of kale on the table and oh, this would either be dinner or lunch. No questions asked.
Did we complain? Yeah, sometimes.Growing up was normal cause the only time that we would see expensive stuff was in church. But the church folk was kind as they would offer us and the other poor kids used clothes and sometimes canned food (pretty horrible as we were only used to cooked food). They used to call us The Less Priviledged and it sounded like an insult everytime the would say it in church. Sometimes we slept on hungry stomachs when dear mum missed a job. The poor kids in my neighbourhood would converge on a rough dusty road that was the main entrance to the estate to play soccer. Keep in mind that this was a small ball made of plastic bags that have been stuffed together and a nylon string would be threaded all round the ball to keep the stuffed plastic ball intact.
To us, this was really good. No shoes when playing the game. Shoes were only worn on sunday cause of church and as soon as you set foot in the house (mud house) , you just put the shoes on the usual place until the next sunday. Am telling you black moms don't mess around. They tell you something once. Next time it would be a slap or a pinch and while they do that to you, you are denied the permission of crying. That's why we grow up tough.
Throughout my life I've been poor. Sometimes I see kids in the developed world not appreciating what they have and frown. They wouldn't make it in Africa. I honestly have never come across a good chance to redeem myself from this God-forsaken life. Some kids that I grew up with gave up hope and turned to drugs. I usually tell myself that this is not an option. I stopped praying cause I honestly think that no one is listening. I am alive and that is all that matters. Suicide thoughts usually creep into my head but I can't do it. If I ever kill myself, just know that I was pushed to the edge and it was the only way out.
Now am 25 and some of my schoolmates are successful, others died while trying to take what isn't theirs, almost a dozen of them turned to drugs. What about me? Well, am still around looking to redeem myself from poverty. A job somewhere would be nice but I can't get any. I have tried though. I always tell meself that if I die poor, it doesn't matter where I go, cause I lived for nothing. Hey don't think that am not greatful for life. I truly am greatful for all I have (good health and alive).
What the western world think about African nations and Africa in genearal, is that it's a curse to be born here but Africa is a great place to live. It's mostly a curse when you are born poor...