I Am Fine. Thank You.

A friend on Twitter brought my attention to the video below and I thought the whole message and idea was profound on so many levels. Of course, the obvious one is how we train ourselves to walk away from people in need, but on a deeper level, for me, it is indicative of how we might be so wrapped up in life that we are unaware of the suffering of those closest to us. Figuratively and literally. ' How are you', we ask. 'Fine', they answer and we move on. Because sometimes we really do not want to hear the long answer. Or we are just observing social convention. Or we have issues of our own to bother about. 

A lady I know almost died of malaria this week. She lives in a house with her sibling and their cousin but they live so apart (emotionally) that nobody knew she was ill, or even cared.And she could not afford the 1500 naira (about $8) for the drug. Hell, she could not even afford to eat. But looking at her you would never guess that she had that issue; educated, well-spoken, etc. I bet if she died there would be those who would ask why she did not say something. But would you not walk past?
 Also the video shows how we can change people's -our- thinking if we put a little thought ( no pun intended) into it. If we replace them with us.

One of my deepest fears for this country is our apathy towards vulnerable members of the society. We do not care for the weak or the less affluent people. We prey on our young. You can see it in everything; no television programs for kids made in the Nigeria, no proper attention to education, children used as suicide bombers and arrested like adults, no parking, walkways or entrances for disabled people. And we are jailing people for whatever adult they choose to love. My fear is that no society can move forward unless we get these things right, and getting it right is such a long journey.

How are you doing?




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