Coming from rural Kenya, every time when I take 0934 South-eastern train from Bromely to London Victoria en route to Childreach International Offices http://www.childreach.org.uk/our-work/where-we-work , I usually find asking myself,
how did this ever happened?
Seeing different places and experiencing new cultures is a blessing and this is something money can't buy. Just to mention, I do find British people very polite!
One of my very good friends Lucky Jeyaseelan and his wife Ally whenever we see each other they keep on talking about their trip they made 5 years ago in East and Southern Africa. They did safari, went to Zanzibar and finished their trip at Victoria Falls in Zambia. When Lucky was a medical student, he spent 6months working with communities in Lesotho. He has very fond memories of the Basotho people. However, all these experiences won't be possible when there is no peace. With all these beauty in Africa and beyond, not many people will want to experience the richness of diversity if there is war and instability.
Syria has broken into civil war while the world is just watching under the guise of diplomacy. The world is watching as women are being raped, children massacred, and men disappearing from their homes without trace. In Kenya, in recent weeks, turmoil has broken in the north with rival politicians exchanging blames and pointing fingers at each other while communities hack each other to death. http://www.nation.co.ke/News/politics/Minister+denies+Tana+River+clashes+role/-/1064/1486302/-/6psqbb/-/index.html
What really happens when there is war?
Children stop going to school: How can a country develop when a whole generation can't read or write? South Sudan, Africa's newest nation had suffered longest civil war in Africa history and even though they have their government, departments are suffering due to lack of adequate skilled personnel. With only 1 in 10 South Sudanese women able to read, it is difficult not to think that tough times are ahead for this young nation. It is safe to say life is pretty hard in most of African countries already so imagine how it is without education. Whenever there is war, this is what happens to children.
Women being raped: We watch on TV, read in news papers and listen to radio reports of women and children being raped as communities are fighting. Some of the readers of this column might have experience this or somebody they know might have. Allow me to ask this; what would you do if your 12 year old daughter has been raped? This is what happens when there is instability.
Infrastructure destroyed: During war, not even sacred of all places are spared. They are usually targets and hospitals, roads and supermarkets are not spared either. When there is no infrastructure people can't move freely and getting basic needs become a dream. This is what happens when there is instability.
Life is destroyed; sadly, children are never spared when it comes to causalities. Sierra Leone, a West African country after a decade of civil war, majority still struggles with effects of atrocities which were known internationally for its horrific widespread amputations of villagers' limbs. http://www.un.org/en/africarenewal/vol18no4/184sierraleone.htm. This is what happens when there is war.
Every evening whenever I watch news bulletin, there is always a clip on war. This is not normal and it is not what humanity is all about. We are genuinely loving, peaceful people and no matter our circumstances, there is no reason for war.
Peace is not merely a distant goal that we seek but a means by which we arrive at that goal
(Martin Luther King, Jr)