KOT THE KEYBOARD WARRIORS

So here I am awake at 3 in the night, well sleepless nights are common when staying in hostels full of university students from the racketing music to the late-night staggering Kenya Cane crew, unlike most nights, this time a couple just outside my window, so loud well judging from the smell of the great plant cannabis sativa, I understood. From one topic to another they critiqued and laughed be it abortion or relationships in campus, well I dint feel like I was being nosy listening to their arguments but they woke me up…. attention seekers…….

So, they go and on, laughing and I cuddled up in my bed, when a good laugh comes along the way I chuckle too. Then the lady appreciates the Madaraka Express SGR train and says how its Mombasa Terminus is upholding with the view of the ocean, then I remember my experience, thinking out loud like the third party I was, once being in the train each compartment would carry 6 passengers but that day it was just the two of us, me and some mzungu lady, her eyes blue and hair oooh her hair, well my hair was great too having stayed with my braids for three months, you can picture that, then I think about seating in the compartment with my headphones listening to Bensoul’s song Lucy  while trying to grasp the lyrics…… mtoto mtoto mdogo amevaa ngoloba…… coming back to reality, I noticed the couple were long gone and one hour had passed. Thinking of it this is how Kenyans are on Social Media inconsistent like a small toddler grasping one thing then swiftly on to the next or like a man suffering from Attention-deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).

The Arab Spring of January 2011, resulted from corrupt oppressive governments, high unemployment, poverty rates and low higher education opportunities in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Syria. The revolution started when one man, Mohammed Bouazizi, a young merchant in Tunisia lit himself on fire in protest of the corrupt dealings of the police who asked for bribes in order to sell his merchandise. The movement was done by the youth who used technology against their oppressors, they utilized social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube in order to organize themselves so that everyone was on the same page, the messages spread to the whole world and they received support.

Well Kenyans are always known as Twitter gurus with the phrase Kenyans on Twitter (KOT), the explosive radical sentiments about oppressiveness, corrupt governments and issues on human infringement waken up the beast that is KOT, with harsh messages and aggressive hashtags to put their message across. At times seen as a platform for hear says and exaggerated critiques.

Are KOT just keyboard warriors?

Are Kenyans organized enough to actually start their own “Arab Spring” or are they loosely overwhelmed by one rising issue then quickly distracted by another forgetting their main goal.

#tags like #WeCannotIgnore and #RedCrossTumechoka should trend so much that we get answers and results, helping our fellow Kenyans in Turkana. Other hashtags on corruption too, are supposed to be over shared till we are actually heard, the Kenyan cries and pleas on social media should result to something better than being number one trending without getting action from it.

Does the Kenyan Social Media play a crucial role in the type of system we long to have in our nation, a less corrupt Kenya, with higher job opportunities, with actual developments that have no loopholes, or one that is able to manage food resources from every part of the nation preventing starvation of fellow citizens or a Kenya that is free from police brutality.

 

Our Nation is bound to protect each citizen of Kenya

Pictures by Boniface Mwangi

In the ancient Luo culture narrative, there was once a village in Homabay that had a feast on one particular day and on the same day an elderly woman, a traveler crossing their village, went to seek for food and shelter from the community. The chief and the tribe’s men were dining and drinking when the old woman asked for a place to sleep and something to eat and they all ignored her needs. A lady amidst the activities heard the plea of the old lady, gave her some food and a place to lie. When the old woman was about to leave she told the lady to gather her belongings, get her children and leave the village warning them of a violent storm that would hit the community. The lady heeds the old woman’s warning and ran away from the village. The village then disappeared in a violent storm because of the greed and arrogance of those who refused to shelter and feed the old woman, creating a large depression that formed the Lake Simbi Nyaima.

"Our Nation is bound to protect each citizen of Kenya."

Pictures by Boniface Mwangi

12 Counties mostly in Northern Kenya are staring at severe drought and lack of water. On the 14th March, 2019, Devolution Secretary Eugene Wamalwa revealed that an estimated 160,000 people are facing imminent starvation.

The current drought epidemic in Baringo and Turkana, has resulted to loss of lives from hunger related complications from these parts of the country, with families merely surviving on poisonous wild fruits that require women travelling very long distance to acquire and after that to get rid of the poison the fruit requires a minimum of being boiled for a whole day.

The harsh weather conditions have persisted for months with temperatures being as high as 40˚and has left many opting to move from their homes in search for food and water.

Pictures by Boniface Mwangi

Turkana in Kenya is the cradle of mankind, the recent discovery of oil, still the locals in Turkana are among the ones constantly hit with drought, with pasture drying up and livestock dying, families are left struggling with the environment that has dried up with no source of water or food, while the death toll from starvation rises.

"Our Nation is bound to protect each citizen of Kenya."

Preventive measures dealing with such extreme conditions are supposed to be implemented, the local and the county government should be prepared, after all prevention is better than the cure. No Kenyan should starve, promotion of climate resilient seeds, resolving to climate change mitigation as nation where we focus on creating more environmental policies and finding ways to cut pollution from our livelihood.  Just Saying.

"Today we are faced with a challenge that calls for a shift in our thinking, so that humanity stops threatening its life-support system. We are called to assist the Earth to heal her wounds and in the process heal our own - indeed to embrace the whole of creation in all its diversity, beauty and wonder. Recognizing that sustainable development, democracy and peace are indivisible is an idea whose time has come."
Wangari Maathai

Pictures by Boniface Mwangi

CALL A FRIEND

The constant posts of call a friend, check on them and say hey some see a clear gimmick not an actual call for help. In extremes some will wonder why you didn’t reach out, say something or give a sign and why you let it get that far.

Over the last three decades, there has been a marked increase in the number of men accompanying their partners in hospital labor wards, feminists might argue that this is a clear sign of domination and power trait but we can’t argue with the positive and emotional uplifting experience of having a teammate with you and a friend who would embrace the pain with you.

“Stare occasionally at the world, seeing everyone else living what appears to be their best happy lives, while I feel trapped in a black hole, numb and paralyzed, trying to call out but nobody is listening.”                                          
                                            

The assumption that we have that depressed people are mostly sad is a misunderstanding. Depression is a mood disorder that unlike sadness which twinkly changes when you cheer up, stays with a person 24/7. The numbness to life and emotions, the feeling of being left alone but the fear of being lonely, wanting friends with no urge to socialize, the fear of failure without even trying.

I am tired, meaning you find escape in sleep, even at the prime times of your day, or the insomnia that keeps you awake. Memories of when days were better and how you were fun to hang around, but now you feel like you’ve lost yourself. The worst moment is the smile for the camera moment, when you have to pretend that you are not depressed but your soul is in tears.

         “I may not be able to understand what you are going through, how you feel but I care about you and want to help.”

Hold a friend’s hand, be compassionate, listen, tell them, “you are not alone in this I am here for you, I care about your life.” You might not help them solve their depression but you will uplift and motivate them, giving them a feeling of someone cares. Just saying.