An Epistle from the Horizons; Tackling Crime in Nairobi.
I am sitting on a desk facing the window. Surprisingly, it is already evening. Outside the window, I look at the houses below, the houses on the side, and the big field far ahead. Further still, I see the tall buildings and all I can do is marvel at the transitions of this place.
I am told, that the place I am looking at, was once uninhabited. It was a place void of life. Lush vegetation covered this place as far as the eyes could see. All that is gone today and has been replaced by houses and people.
It is in the midst of these houses that the field stands. It is the most iconic thing in this neighbourhood filled with green glass, and beautifully trimmed with lovely trees standing on its edges. It stands as though it has been the epicentre of where all these transitions began. In the vision of where perhaps it all started.
I choose to sit down and write about this epicentre field. The only thing that conspicuously stands out in the whole neighbourhood. I tag you along on this adventurous sojourner about not the field itself per se, but rather the impact it has had over the ages.
As is with every other place I have visited on this side of town, within the city of Nairobi, there is a field like this. It has been the life and hope-giving thing for the young people whose upbringing has been marred with a crime.
The young people I see practising in this field in the early morning and late evenings have consciously chosen to follow a different path than those threaded by their immediate generation. Some of them are orphaned because of crime. Their parents fell due to the bullet’s effect.
Some of their friends are dead already because of the gun as well. They chose to walk in the path of their parents and their seniors. They chose to walk that path despite knowing the hefty price that comes with it. They chose not to care because they felt they had been robbed of their destinies by society which might be, or might not be true.
Like a water pan in a large animal park during the dry season that gets flocked to offer a glim of hope for life for all the animals therein, this field has been the point of solace for the young people looking to direct their energy to things that can add value to their lives.
They meet to practice daily to perfect their football, handball, volleyball, and running skills. Yet when one looks at them, he can sense that feeling of futility because they don’t believe that our sports organizations and the sports themselves are properly organized to a level, they can offer them opportunities to excel beyond this field.
I am sure the same is the case for all the other young people trying to nurture their talents elsewhere to redirect their energies to try and be useful in this life. Breaking free from age-old activities such as crime, violence, prostitution, theft, and much more which are often mistaken to be genetic (the issue being more about the environment) is not a walk in the park.
The reason why we need to be zealous in ensuring that we strengthen academies that are aimed at nurturing talent as well as organizations that are capable of offering these young people opportunities for growth and earning an income.
My fear is only one. This field I am looking at may be grabbed someday and hence be a big blow to the efforts being made by these young people. Thus, this is a rallying call that these places be protected to help young people break away from bad vices and try to make a life for themselves for generations to come.
It is not a tall order. It can be done together with strengthening national organizations that have the capacity and ability to provide opportunities for nurturing these young people to be of value to themselves and the nation at large.
I know that together we can do this.
