Comments on: M Tell’s Kenyans to go Back Home to Kenya

By: Ibraheem

Ibraheem — Fri, 10 Mar 2006 18:20:39 +0000

^ The hand outs are given in comparison to the circumstances that arise from poverty.As I write, there is a very prolonged drought affecting parts of africa.However, many africans are expecting the situation, giving hand outs(and this includes rations from WFP and MSF) will change with time especially in KENYA and SOMALIA not unless the warlords continue to take charge of this Humanitarian agencies.

I am a KENYAN+SOMALI who has both heritages.I assure my fellows africans(Black, Marine and whites) in and out of our country that things will improve.African people have proved they can get education with all those difficulties, are healthy in slums for the time being and more aware about the need to have better life facilities enjoyed abroad both for themselves and their generations..

Africa will be ok. I am sure..

By: Andrew Elgert

Andrew Elgert — Fri, 27 Jan 2006 04:31:23 +0000

I shall start off by saying that I am an American who has lived overseas for many years of my life. I am a student, and among my peers, I am joined by a significant number of pupils very interested in global issues, such as infectious disease in Africa, not to mention the political and social problems in some areas of the continent. In school I have become ever cynical about the world, but about Africa I contend that the Europeans really did screw it up. Now Africa must be rebuilt. I personally find the tone of M very funny and witty. He is absolutley right. Many Americans and other westerners think that if money is thrown at a problem, the problem will go away. I was once naive enough to think that at least part of this was true, but then saw with my own eyes the slums where women of age 25 or so already had 4 or so kids. I have heard the interviews of children who are fed by handouts but given no education whatsoever. I have heard men saying condoms cause pregnancy, and women believing cheap local tricksters can terminate pregnancies, both cases ending in dismal results. This M guy has a good view of the situation. When Africans can come back to their homelands and speak of their opportunities in the land of America or Britain or wherever, then they have given back at least something. If they give back something, perhaps more like them will give back more. Then even people like me would provide any sort of help. It must be an African priority. With people like M, this is the case. What Africa needs now is the rest of the world to notice it. In my country I have a bitter opposition to handouts. Our “welfare” system essentially subsidizes the unemployed, giving them their necessities, and encouraging unemployment. If someone is on welfare and then begins going to school, he or she loses welfare benefits. Obviously this helps no one. In Africa, handouts can often end up in the hands of warlords such as in Somalia or Sudan. In democracies, however, such as Kenya, this is much less of a threat. It is interesting as always to hear an African’s perspective, however, rather than the news media.

By: Swoosh

Swoosh — Mon, 23 Jan 2006 19:47:43 +0000

I think it’s a good place to start, but it is a lot to ask. Somewhere in there has to be a deep conviction and passion to make such a change.
As the earth today no longer knows right and wrong or up and down, everyone’s convictions are their own, and finding the one with enough to go back and make a difference is harder now than ever….