Train a Child Today, Raise an Icon Tomorrow
The Tree is only as Good as the Seed that Births it
For every tree that is standing, there is a root system holding it. For every building we admire, there is a foundation beneath it. For every reaction, there is an action that came before it. And for every noble Afrikan man that we admire today, there was an Afrikan child that was nurtured yesterday. Silencing the guns on the streets of Afrika begins with silencing the guns of words and domestic violence at home.
We are on the outside, what we were created or programmed to be on the inside. For he who plants a good seed in the heart of an Afrikan child today, prepares the future to reap an Afrikan icon. And that we have a whole lot of misguided men and women in various positions of leadership in Afrika really should show us where we have missed the path, and that if we do not make changes now, we will be left with nothing in the next few years.
For a right thinking person, or for a really mindful people, there are serious questions we should be asking ourselves each and every day. Just for a start, we should be asking how it is possible that Afrika is still where she is right now, with all the millions of graduates, master’s degree holders and PhDs we have in Afrika and in the diaspora? How can we still be dependent on debts and loans? And then say Afrika is the richest continent in the world, which she really is. “So, what’s going on?” you may ask. My simple answer is this, the tree can only be as good as the seed that gave birth to it. Period.
We definitely are reaping the fruits of the trees we planted with corruption and stolen goods. And the sooner we realize there is need for a change of trajectory towards righteous and dignified living, the sooner we will begin to see change in Afrika. Afrika is not Europe, so do not ask me “Why is it that with all the evil that Europe and America have done in every other nation of the world, they are still ahead of Afrika in development?” And that is because you think GMO food and lab created food is development. Afrika’s definition of development is different and that is what we must go for. Afrika’s development cannot be taken away from the context of Ubuntu. Any form of development that does not give priority to the needs and pains of others, is nothing but a ticking time bomb. And surely, it will explode in time.
Instead of buying your children all the things you never had, you should teach them all the things you were never taught. Material wears out but knowledge stays.
Bruce Lee
The future is coming
Are you aware that in the next few decades, Afrika will be home to seventy percent of the world’s young people? Imagine if that large amount of young people are not raised to live with integrity, love, kindness and our Ubuntu; that is a disaster waiting to happen. And that is what we must begin to work to fix before it is too late. The future is coming but are we ready for it?
We all must do all that is required to raise our children to think, act and live as true Afrikans, with dignity, honor for others and self-respect.
The world we are in right now is too deep in corruption, wrong influences and bad choices to leave our children untaught and untrained. And by teaching and training, I do not speak of what we call learning in formal schools, even though that is also important; but teaching and training that inputs in the subconscious level of a child a sense of dignity, integrity, love, honor, honesty, hard work and respect for self and others. Why is this important as a direction of training and teaching that we must show our children? A large percentage of the people that are in positions that are ruining our beloved continent, through corruption and all manner of mindless actions, went to some of the best schools all over the world. Especially the ones from rich families and who apparently are mostly the ones we have in our leadership positions which they got through godfathers and families. Meaning that formal school is useful for teaching the brains of children to think of solutions, by any means possible, including negative things. But the teaching that targets the heart of a child and steers him or her towards being a better person for the good of all, that we must give priority.
It is on record that Bruce Lee said these words “Instead of buying your children all the things you never had, you should teach them all the things you were never taught. Material wears out but knowledge stays.”
There is no better way put it than the way Bruce Lee put it. It is foolishness at best to think that the most important thing you can give to a child is what you were not given. Why is that? Children only know what they want based on their natural desires, and not what they need to make them deep and conscious humans. With all the foolish things we do and give our children, we are at best raising shallow humans who do not have the capacity to understand that life is way deeper and higher than what the five senses can pick up or interpret. And it will be a great disservice to the future if we do not do something about the direction we are heading in right now. It is in our power to make changes, and we need to do so now.
The most beautiful thing about teaching children good values and ideals is that, it does not need a parent or parents with master’s degrees. It just needs hearts that see life from a divine perspective, and not shallow thoughts. In fact, the more the degrees, the less effective the teaching of values is to those who gather those degrees to themselves. And the reason is simple; The educational system that created the curriculum that made those degrees was created not for teaching values, but for teaching how to kill or be killed, which is very alien to the authentic Afrikan way of living which is for the good of all. If it were not so, the white man that created such education would not be using it for exploiting others and destroying whatever he cannot have or stealing from others. So, teach an Afrikan child today and raise and Afrikan icon tomorrow.
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