Sunday, September 9, 2012

At The Cutting Edge Of Survival

#1. At The Cutting Edge Of Survival

At The Cutting Edge Of Survival

Robert has come to be a movable fast food shop. He was released recently from prison, after having served for one year on petty-theft that he had practised for any years before the hand of the law came knocking. Now he has changed, if his rehabilitated status passes the test of time. He sells meat soup carrying a few pieces of meat. His other menu includes eggs, rice and potatoes. He carries all the food on his body, faultless with cutlery! He has an oversize coat with many pockets. The coat has some of the pockets when he bought. He sewed in many more of separate sizes to adapt plates, cups, spoons, spices, and a small salt container. The only visible containers that he carries colse to are two containers of almost 10 litre size, one for soup and meat, and the other for rice and potatoes. He moves colse to with all these as he mingles with his drinking colleagues. One would wonder how he can serve his food, and if he has customers, until he sees how he removes an assortment of cutlery, plates, cups, and bowls from his coat pockets to serve human turn beasts - ferocious, hungry, dirty, and drunk.

At The Cutting Edge Of Survival

Robert is just one among many who have not decided to leave their lives to fate. There are many people, mostly made up of young and middle aged who are doing crazy things. Some have gone to suicidal extents to survive. Some are falling down out of exhaustion and many suffer from mental fatigue. Privileged members of society, whose feelings have been deactivated by rampant poverty and misery, cannot do whatever to help. And what is worst is that they would want to be the only privileged ones. Possibly they are only implicated with their security. And even if some would want to help the poor, they may be suspicious of them, and therefore retreat back. They think that some of the poor may be thieves and hardcore criminals.

Many of the poor are becoming entrepreneurs for real, and some are becoming entrepreneurs of some sort. Real entrepreneurs want to break away from the vicious cycle of poverty, while entrepreneurs of some sort only do what they do to get some "purchasing power" to satisfy their addictions. Entrepreneurs of some "sorts" would work to get money for cigarettes, alcohol and women. Real entrepreneurs would not want to entrust they life to anyone but God, who would want to see them exploit their potential. There are some remarkable examples of citizen who took radical steps to be in operate of their destiny. Edith Masaai, a notable world long distance athlete, when divorced and with a boy child, went into athletic training to be an athlete, something that she did not do in school. Her training and her athletic pursuits paid. And Robert Cheruiyot, also a world notable long distant athlete, and who came from a very poor background had to run for food, not realizing that in just a few years ahead, he was going to have enough to eat and live a lucrative celebrity life-style, besides enhancing the life of his parents and his siblings. And there are young citizen in Africa who are trying to learn and sell herbal medicine, traditionally a withhold of some old men and women. Dealing with herbal rehabilitation takes a lot of time, persuasion, and perseverance, therefore those who have tried are determined to have a breakthrough.

Some of the citizen at the cutting edge of survival are driven basically by the will to live. They want to save their lives and that of their families from death that may be brought by famine and other natural disasters. any years ago, women driving their donkeys loaded with firewood to sell, traveled many kilometers from Mulot agency in Narok District, Kenya, to the highlands of Bomet District, Kenya, to sell firewood and buy food or to replacement the firewood with food, in general made up of maize and potatoes. Many donkeys died of exhaustion, injury and starvation. Each day, thousands of donkeys carrying firewood, and wounded, arrived in the highlands. There are innumerable stories of women in many towns in Kenya going extra miles to take care of their families. .And still many do an assortment of businesses to enable their children to eat, clothe, and warm them. Some have even survived on loans of 1 ½ dollars borrowed each morning from better located businessmen to be refunded in the evening. They will buy "Sukuma Wiki", a type of green vegetable, and other vegetables from farmers who bring in the morning to sell on a wholesale price, they divide into tiny bundles and sell. Others will buy Wheat Flour so that they can bake "Mandazi" and "Chapati" and sell. To make Mandazi and Chapati, flour is mixed with water until it is a bit hard before they are fried to be served with stew or tea. They will use the behalf to buy food and fuel, and return the money they borrowed, and the same is repeated the following day.

There is some justification to fantasize that with all the desperate acts, determination, and innovations, and a matter of necessity, third world countries would be on the path to an market and technological revolution. But no, at least for some foreseeable future, if many prohibiting factors are not death with. High taxation, lack of increase incentives, and corruption stare menacingly at the poor in many of the third world countries. Governments claim they are taxing to get income in order to supply services to citizen and to use for development. But in reality, the money is used to pay bloated civil assistance that is fast embracing lucrative secret culture packages, and for political favours. And still some of the money may be stolen through non-existent government contracts and corrupt tendering. In the end, taxation would passage the last hard earned coin from citizens, but do not advantage them. Businesses are dying in the third world while governments proudly release economic increase figures that do not tell to living standards of its citizens. Some have just resigned to fate, and are fully discouraged, while a good estimate have decided to be life-proactive and stay at the cutting edge of survival. Some of them barely meet basic needs, and still a very small estimate are taking off as flourishing entrepreneurs. It need a petite bid of imagination by third world leaders to save their citizens from vicious cycle of poverty and live instead of just surviving.

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