You don't even know what you don't even know

   I feel cheated by our education system. I have a problem with several aspects but I especially have a problem when it comes to the teaching of history. I feel like there are major parts that were skimmed over. Sure, they covered all the major bases about how Kenya was colonized and there were segregated schools for the different races. But it never talked about how Nairobi was basically partitioned into areas where the settlers lived, where the Asian community lived and where the Africans lived. We were taught about how colonialism was a good thing for us Africans and that they British might have overstepped their bounds a bit by mistreating Africans thus leading to the need for the Mau Mau rebellion. Maybe it was inappropriate to explain torture and human-rights violations to 12-year olds. But they glossed over the fact that thousands of Africans died due to outbreaks of diseases that had never been experienced in the continent before. That means that we had no immunity / tolerance for them so we died in scores. And even after independence, all the injustices committed by the government we worked so hard to install. Nobody mentioned the blatant corruption, tribalism and nepotism that laced those formative years. I was left with the distinct impression that the leaders of way back then were saints. I came to know better as an adult.

   And I think that our culture is to blame partly. We raise leaders to such a high pedestal that they literally become idols. And how can it be anything less that idolatry when a man in his right mind decides to kill his neighbor because his leaders told him to. We refuse to speak ill of the dead at the expense of the truth. Generations have been raised on a culture of expecting and accepting hand-outs. It started with us selling each other into slavery for cloth. These days we sell our votes and loyalty for sums that will barely last a week. When did we stop seeing the bigger picture? Or are we so used to being the underdog that we cannot imagine being ahead of the pack?

   And I get it. That 1000bob at a political rally might be the difference between one’s children starving to death and them living to see another day. But what about later when there’s nobody standing with you in the voting booth? Tribalism and classism hasn’t helped us these past 50 plus years so how about we try something different and see what happens. But I digress.

   Back to our history that covers-up our less glorious moments and paints everything through rose-coloured glasses before jumping into world history for the rest of the school years. No wonder we keep making the same mistakes when we’re so quick to forget the lessons that we should have learned. The truth shall set us free.

Ciao…