"I have no power to come into your living rooms and shut off the television, and demand that your child should read" Those words came out of American president elect Barack Obama's mouth during one of his campaign rallies last fall. The man who has made history by becoming the first African American President of united States, was implying that the government cannot do it all when it comes to family values and education. It is amazing how one is adversely affected by the lack of a well balanced life. Most of us who grew up tending goats and cows had an early encounter with the responsibilities of life. Many times its a life we regret, and yet many times that life, though not as comfortable gave us some life long lessons. The live stocks we did not even own, gave us a sense of responsibility. It would not be fair to say that people who did not tend cows and goats like I did, cannot juggle the responsibilities of life, either.
In my life I have seen both sides. I have experienced poverty. I have seen the haves, and the have not. I know what it is not to have a pair of shoes, and I know what it is to have a huge selection of shoes. I know people who have a problem with what they are going to wear because of failing to make up their mind on a huge wardrobe selection. I also know people who hardly have any linen covering their bodies. Coming from poverty is often humbling. Not everybody who is poor must be poor.Not everybody who look rich is rich. Whichever way one looks at it, material values define who we are. For example, the friends you have. The relatives who visit you. The neighborhood you live in, and the school you may attend. The same applies to one's children.
These do not chose the circumstances under which they are brought up. If they find you poor, they live in poverty, if they find you in abundance, thank God. Life is easy for them. In many respects we are all products of our upbringing. What worries me the most is when children are buried in material. Some years ago I witnessed a close relative of mine committing this crime. It happened that during a birthday/ Christmas occasion one of their beloved children still had gifts not opened from the previous year. These precious gifts were rotting in the garage. Need less to say that they were now too small for her. I see this trend a lot. Some just wear clothes just one time, and that is all. I know parents who work hard, and some even work two jobs or double shifts just to make their children comfortable. Many of this loving parents do not even have a life of their own. The opposite is equally true.
They want to make sure their off springs get the best. To be honest some have their priorities wrong. Those of us who live here in the States must have heard Billy Cosby's lamenting about such things. The former television show host and comedian has earned himself critics and friends from both sides. Renowned philanthropist and humanitarian Oprah Winfrey was criticized for starting a school in South Africa, when there are need people "here". There is a lot of wastage going on in our own homes, yet its easy to see it from a television box else where. Growing up in city of Bulawayo, in New Lobengula suburb. I was taught to help around the house. As a teenager, I could clean the house, that includes bending down my knees and polishing the two bedroom house. Sometimes it took hours.
Not one of those rooms was my own. I slept in the kitchen, under the table. That meant that one needed to wake up early before everybody else did to clean and reorganize the kitchen as if nobody used it for the bedroom. Gardening and landscaping was my personal duty. I was responsible to produce vegetables for the family daily needs. There is no need for me to mention that given resources we had, greens and cornmeal mix (isithwala lemibhida) were the main dish, almost Monday to Friday. Lacto (sour milk) was a good supplement. Meat was rare. My aunt who was a single mother of three of her own children, must be credited for having a big heart despite little resources. I had to learn to do things I did not like. That to me was a way to survive. Nothing would come on a silver plate. Nothing was guaranteed. Not even the education that I thought I deserved.
These days we have problems with kids failing to clean they own bedrooms. They cannot even vac cum the carpet house. For one to do their dishes would mean that their parents call the police if they can. Sadly there is no Law enforcement organization for that .The American system have the most efficient and trouble free system one has ever seen. The kids are taken by a bus just on their door step to school. They are dropped in the same place. I know people who enjoyed those privileges in Zimbabwe too. Parents must provide for their children by all means possible and there is no excuse for doing otherwise. Providing for them is different from spoiling them. This is not only true to people of west, but also people for Africans immigrants residing abroad. Young people are not given challenges anymore.
That is why young people getting into crime and drugs. They are not used to the idea of hard work. Its foreign to them, yet that is exactly how the system of this world works. I quoted Barack Obama when I began, I must quote him again as I end. He said that {the absence of his father shaped his life more than his presence}. He spoke about the values that his mother and grandmother instilled in him. Hard work, faith, honest, respect and determination. Once these things are instilled in a child, they are a treasure that money cannot buy.
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