Diasporakenyan wish to pass love and encouragement to all children out there and with the hope that the suffering affecting children all over the world shall be eradicated one day. The International Children’s day is celebrated on the first Monday of October in Sweden. 
Children are brought up and told that you can be anything you like, and remember, you are the leaders of tomorrow.
But how can our children be anything better if they are not brought up in a respectful manner that gives them the opportunities to grow in protection and become responsible citizens of the world?
When you take your child out of school, circumcise her and marry her off to a man unknown to her, you are directly killing your future and that of the country you dearly love.
When you see street children as unwanted children and passively pass by without doing something to change the situation, you are doomed to perish. The responsibility is on the hands of adult people.
We must all prioritize children’s rights in the society and help those who are in need. I would like to give my honour to Jacinta Njoroge, a DiasporaKenyan who has devoted her life to helping the needy children in Kenya. Jacinta, a community nurse who originates from Kampi ya moto in Nakuru, realized that if Kenya would be any better, then we must ensure that we participate to practically build it ourselves. She started a children’s home together with her friend Sabine Gartner and a few others. The children’s home is now a full mixed primary school after around 9 years. Kenya needs more Jacinta’s to build institutions to help uplift the living standard of all children irrespective of their background.
To see pictures from Phyllis Children’s home, click here. Thank you Jacinta, Sabine and all others, who works tirelessly to give a supportive hand to needy children in Kenya.
Subsequently, we need to do much more! It requires that we all contribute with community development ideas. Every individual’s idea has a place in our society. For instance, Kenyans occupying powerful positions in the government and other institutions can influence our government to dialogue with the so called donor countries to change tactics regarding financial support to Africa.
Diasporakenyans work and pay tax in their respective host countries and send a lot to their motherland. So do we have a voice, or a right to influence policies affecting our motherland? If we do, why don’t we influence policies made by SIDA on donations to Kenya to something that actually works? There is a need to change the way financial support is handled. Let’s take it honestly and personal because it’s just so personal. Kenya is not going to be a beggar country.
The Country requires change of attitude towards donations if we would make any positive changes for the coming generation. The donor’s attitude must be changed or else we retain the imperialistic relationship that exists today!
We shall not be a receiver nation because we are a capable people. We shall reclaim our position in taking care of our own lives and not live under the care of a foreign donor. We appreciate anyone who wants to support us in achieving these goals with honesty and respect but we do not invite anyone to intimidate us with financial support as if we are invalidated.
The financial support Kenya has received so far has not been felt in Mukogodo or Samburu or Turkana or Kibera neither has it been felt in Bombolulu, Takaungu or other Swahili villages along the coast.
So what is wrong with the donations we are receiving? To me, it seems we must change something. If you ask me, I say, NO MORE CASH to GOVERNMENT! Instead, we need engineers; doctors, and exchange visits, democratic grass roots institutions build and connected to each other with infrastructure with the government and through the government. We need sustainable farming, promote income generating activities on the community level, job creating environmental programs in the villages and promote production institutions in the country to avoid importing finished materials made of locally available raw materials. This way, we will be sustaining our environment too.
We need schools in every little hole and hill in the country side. We need bore holes, water points, dams, electricity, mobile posts, community centres, training sports camps, athletic camps in the villages and above all, adult education for all villages in Kenya. We need polytechnics, we need secondary schools, and above all, we need clinics, maternal child health care in remote areas. We need human rights centres. We need security centres sponsored by the funds, of course engaging the National Security force.
And, another thing, sponsor an environmental friendly power production scheme all over the country. The sun shines daily; the wind in Africa is so much that it could power the whole country even without reserves. We all love the sun but we also know that it’s killing people and animals in dry periods so it’s time to show the cool side of the sun, through the panels! So many Swedish industries manufacturing Solar Systems? Or SAAB, VOLVO or SCANNIA shall need to connect with TOYOTA and export Solar panels to Kenya? We would have IT-community centres all over Kenya and in all schools for no cost at all.
Giving donations directly to the government even after realizing that it’s not working is irresponsible and imperialistic! Financed States simply becomes apparatus for donor Nations to continue containing the citizens in poor countries in misery.
Partnering with the government in developing the society is not oppressive neither is it Neo-colonialism. Moreover, rich nations can choose to create a development pool at the UN or another higher level to cater for world society improvement programs.
Use the money to directly support these institutions. Let us have a ministry stimulated by the civil society to champion this idea and create society rejuvenation ministry, a recovery ministry for rebuilding and stabilizing Kenya. That is what we need and not donations.
Again the change of attitude and tactics is to protect our national sovereignty. Our national sovereignty is undermined now already due to the fact that we have occupied the receiver or call it Slave position in our relationship with the wealthy nations. The master decides when to give us fund and when to give us the Cane. We participate in policy adaptations meetings but we do not contribute or amend the policies, they are readily fixed by the Master.
There is a very severe need to promote equality and justice even when donations and funding other nations projects is concerned.
This is a few physical supports that Kenya can appreciate from any well willing donor. Don’t paralyse our pride and dignity with “help and donations”! However, we appreciate SIDA’s cooperation and we support them in withholding their principles of rectification for the mistakes the Western nations have committed against the Southern people. After all, we are responsible for each other and we have the duty to reduce suffering of our fellow human beings and create a more just and equal society, at least if you are like me.:)
SIDA would be a fantastic development organization if it stopped donating funds that goes to waste year after years neither doing good to the perceived receiver nor to the exhausted tax payer in the west! All this, is for the sake of children so that they can grow in a humble environment as respected members of our society with their own individual identity and Rights.
Let us work to withholding mutual respect between our nations as we make the world a better place than we found it.
Happy International children’s day to you all!
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Saidimu Ole Ngais
http://diasporakenyan.se
olengais@gmail.com
