Years ago, maybe thousands of years ago

I once read a book that said that we view the world through a certain lens. This lens is based on our upbringing, experiences, gender, education and more. It shapes our perception of events and our response to them. I initially disagreed with this thought. Surely, I don’t have a biased or warped view of the world or events. Afterall, I am educated and not a traditionalist, extremely open minded and willing to not follow the crowd.

As I got older however, and time passed by, I begun to realise that in actuality, I did have a certain perception and view of the world. Some of my views were positive and others not so positive. This got me thinking about what determines or makes views different between groups of people around the world. I haven’t yet gotten to the answer to that question but this brought me to another thought. Why do we seem to have to much pain and suffering around and Why do some have much and others don’t? 

I pondered on this and watched as the recent rain season brought about the growth of vegetation, making some of our cities look like mini rain forest. I realised that wherever the rain fell, the vegetation would grow, unless someone intervened and didn’t want it to. I kept thinking about this and eventually came up with a story which may or not explain the current state of things or maybe explains what happened in the past…

“Years ago, maybe thousands of years ago, there was a small group of people in a remote part of Africa who lived in a valley surrounded by hills and a dense forest. The people were happy and healthy. Everyone knew each other and their families. Kids played while adults farmed and made homes. This was the place where Mbaka grew up. But unlike other kids, he seemed not to be interested in games but rather spent most of his time asking questions and wondering around the village and its surroundings.

There was a mighty river that flowed down the forest covered hills and watered the valley below. The water was used for farming, washing and cooking. As he grew up, he always wondered where the river came from. But no one had the answer. What they did have were stories about the dense forest where the river comes from. How it was filled with creatures and animals, that all who tried to go up to the forest where the river came never came back alive.

Mbaka however, was not scared by these stories, he wanted to see for himself what was in the forest. So he backed some food and water in a bag, secretly left the village and followed the river upstream. It was a difficult journey that sure enough, one that others would not survive from. He spent many nights in the forest, following the river. There was some truth to the stories in that there were many reptiles in it and he had to sleep up in the trees for fear of being attacked by one of them.

 As the days went by, he grew weary and tired and contemplated going back to his village. He relented however, and noticed that the farther away he got from the village and followed the river, the more it shrank in size. Until eventually, the mighty river became a very small stream that itself continued to shrink. Finally, he found a unique tree and a small distance from it, what appeared to be bubbles coming from the ground. Puzzled, he wondered what it was but knowing that he was low on food decided to return to the village.

He begun his journey back to the village, following the stream, that eventually grow wider and wider as he made his way down the hills and through the forest. During his last night, once again he slept high in a tree and in the morning got a glimpse of what appeared to be his village.  As he looked on, a thought came to him and he realised what he had found was the source of the river. This had him excited and he was ready to tell other members of his family and village what he had found. He decided to wait until evening before returning, least he be questioned about why he left the village and went to a place where no one was supposed to go.  

When the sun set, he made his way back to the village. As he walked, a thought came to him, “what if you owned the river?” He looked on and realised that during the days he was gone, more crops were planted and some unfinished houses were finished. When it was day and he was seen, he assumed everyone would ask where he had been but only his parents seemed to question his whereabouts. This saddened him and so  He kept quiet about his discovery and as the years went on, he found more time to visit the river source and great tree besides it.

With time, the village grew and one afternoon some of the families clashed over crops. And the council of elders was called of which Mbaka was a member. As the council debated over the crops, the idea came back to him, “What if you owned the river?” He quieted the council and made a proposal, “let each elder pick an area and place trees around it that can be used as boundaries for their families. This would prevent them from arguing over the crops that were planted as they would clearly know which crops belonged to which family.

The proposal sounded great to the council, and each elder selected areas for their families. When it came to his turn to pick, he picked the area that was closer to the hills which was harder to farm and keep animals. It was the least desirable area and no one questioned his choice but all thought it was the wrong choice yet they didn’t voice their opinions. Because his area was the least desirable, he asked if he could be given the part of the dense forest that they all feared. Once again none opposed him for they got the better part of the land and had their concerns sorted. His family protested, however, they could not overrule his decision.  

The years went by, all was well and there were never any quarrels over crops. Then, something strange begun to happen, the waters of the river begun to dwindle until eventually, they would almost dried up. Alarmed by this, the council met to discuss what could be done because they would not be able to farm without the water from the river. During the meeting, Mbaka, told the elders that if each family would sacrifice a portion of their crops, he would seek guidance from the heavens for the waters of the river to flow once again. And so, the families brought crops to Mbaka, which he collected and took to his house. A few days later, water returned to the village and they were relived that they would farm and not starve.

With time, this became the common practice, each time the river seemed to be drying, tributes were given to Mbaka and his family and water would flow once again. Eventually, Mbaka and his family did not need to farm, for the tribute from the other families were more than enough to feed them. This became the norm, as families grew and new people were born, they never knew what life was like before. That the river would always flow, what they knew was that sometimes it would dry up, but once tributes are given Mbaka and his family, water would flow once again when he sought help from the heavens.

Unknown to them, was that Mbaka, having found the source of the river built a dam. Whenever his family was running low on food, he would redivert the stream into the dam and stop it from coming down to the village. Once tributes were given, he would let the water flow downstream. This went on for years and Mbaka eventually died but passed on this secret to his son.  Who carried out the same thing, and passed the secret on to his son upon his death on it went. Eventually, the village begun to rely on Mbaka’s family for farming as they “controlled the river” or it was said that they “owned the river”.

A Donkey, A Robot and A black Astronaut

Movies have always been fascinating to me. Each time I watch a movie, I get teleported to another world, forgetting my present surrounding. Realms in which donkeys can talk, cars turn into robots and African Americans drive their cars into space. Films open up my mind to what could be possible, regardless of how crazy it could be. But this only lasts while watching the movies, once I get to the end, its usually back to reality. And in this reality, people don’t glitter or shimmer in the sun.

When CDs were done and the internet took over, I started heading over to family friends’ office over the weekend to download movies. I would store them on a flash drive, which became my favourite activity over the weekend. Having the movies on the flash drive meant that I could watch them as many times as I wanted and the best part… It was free.  This was revolutionary, data was quite expensive then, so I definitely struck gold.

A while later, friend of mine travelled abroad and while we were talking, I suggested a movie to watch. They agreed and uttered a statement I hadn’t heard till then, “I’ll stream it.” I remembered asking how that could be possible and why they preferred streaming over downloading the movie. It was a new concept to me and in my mind If they streamed the movie and wanted to watch it again later on, it meant they would have to pay for data again. However, if they downloaded the film, it would be basically free to watch till kingdom come. They went ahead and streamed the movie. This was before Netflix...What a waste I thought to myself.

Years later, I got to travel and realised that people in other countries didn’t download movies anymore, they streamed them online, in 1080p. That was mind blowing and queue the era of Netflix. Data was cheap and could be paid for an entire year uncapped for a reasonable price. Had I not left home, I probably would still be downloading movies to date but thank God for the ability to be exposed to different environments and possibilities.

What I’m getting at? Well, it might be maybe nothing but one thing I have learnt about being in Africa is that life is beautiful but can be challenging. In some countries transportation might cost you 2$ and stay at that fee for 4 years. Here however, prices change every 30 days. It’s easy to feel frustrated, discouraged and disappointed.

In my opinion, the world wants us thinking a certain way and is trying to determine who we are, what we can be and how far we can go. If you disagree, download a VPN and reload your google page.

The world is advancing, opportunities are opening up but If we continue to focus only on what our environment is screaming at us then we might miss it. I’m starting to learn that one of the ways to remain focused, opened minded and not be discouraged is to be intentional about what I see and hear. I would scoff at those ‘vision board people’, but finally understand the importance of having one. Ensuring that my wallpaper reflects my dreams and curating my social sites to mirror the vision too. While it is tedious, If you want to live an extraordinary life, you might have to take extraordinary steps that keep you believing that anything is possible. Like being able to stream movies all year round.  So keep your mind open, stay focussed and don’t give up believing that you could be the one to cause a generational change. Who knows, maybe donkeys don’t talk yet but Siri sure can, so who knows what the future holds.

FLOW

I was staring through a window and noticed what appeared to be a stream or maybe a river. I’d like to assume that a year ago this river was a force of nature to be reckoned with. It seemed to wind down the landscape for kilometres which got me to thinking of how many thousands of years it took for the stream to make its way through the rock and soil to the sea.

Another thought came to mind, ‘the source of the river’. In most cases, river sources aren’t quite as majestic as the rivers themselves. Take the source of the Zambezi River, one of the longest rivers in Africa. I hear if you aren’t guided and shown where the source is, you might miss it, barely being able to recognise it without assistance. River sources don’t have to be huge or attention seeking, no, all they have to be is consistent. The constant flow of water, no matter how minor, over many years will eventually lead to the creation of a mighty river like the Zambezi.

The stream that I saw caught my attention in another manner too, you see, there’s been a drought in much of southern Africa. And while the flow of the river could be clearly seen, something was missing or absent, water. The river was bone dry, not a drop of water in it. All that was there was the river sand. The reality of the effects of the 2023/2024 drought sunk in and I sincerely hope that this year’s rain season will more than make up for the lack of it that was experienced.

What does a river source have in common with a drought? I’m not sure, but they both got me thinking. As humans we experience changes in seasons, have different phases in life and these usually affect us and our relationships.

“The only constant thing in life is change,” a phrase a don’t particularly like but keeps showing itself to be true. We tend to be creatures of habit. Enjoying our routines as well as the solid and dependable relationships we have built. After all, starting all over again is a lot of work, we would much rather stick to familiar people or places. Well, that is until the place shuts down, then we are forced to make an adjustment.

When seasons change, take the shift from winter to spring, often times it means setting aside our winter coats and pulling out our umbrella and bugs spray. I think the same could be said about people. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mean that with each new season a new group of friends is needed, no. However, it is true that some friends come into our lives for specific times, places and seasons. And no matter how hard you both try, once that season or phase passes, unfortunately so too does the relationship. The danger would be trying to hold on to a person that simply doesn’t fit in your new season nor you in theirs.

So what do we do?  Much like the a flowing river, I think we have to learn to be flexible. Twisting, turning and curving our way smoothly through the rock or soil until we eventually get to the sea. We have to accept when certain relationships end and look forward to new ones that come along the way. Rather than holding on to a former glory that will not amount to anything in the future, we should embrace new beginnings and look forward to them.