Ubuntu Reimagined: Building a Future from Home

 I sit here surrounded by family—my pillars, my safe haven. The year's struggles fade for a moment, replaced by the comfort of the basic unit: family. It’s in this simplicity, this unity, that I find clarity. Parenting is no small task; it’s the duty of raising a generation that will carry the weight of what we’ve failed to fix.

In the old days, boys learned from men, and girls learned from women. Lessons weren’t left to chance; they were deliberate, definitive, woven into the fabric of daily life. But that fabric tore when the Kaburus—colonial opportunists—introduced us to their way of life. We took their systems, their charades of democracy, and left behind something more sacred: Ubuntu. The idea that I am because we are. Now, it’s every man for himself, and we see the results—a fractured society where unity feels like a relic of the past.

Take a moment to consider the impact of our choices. While we dream of national change, our cradle—the county—crumbles. How real is this fight for justice and equality if it doesn’t begin at home?

To those like Mwabili Mwagodi, TL Elder, whose influence stretches beyond county lines, I ask: why the national focus when Taita Taveta lies forgotten? Our leaders misuse resources, projects stall, and our county remains stagnant. Yet this is the home that raised us, the land where your mother—the one you hold so dear—lives. How do you change Migori or Nairobi while Wesu Hospital can’t afford paint for its walls?

We should not let our frustrations with the present blind us to what really matters: family. The generation we’re raising will live in the systems we leave behind. If those systems remain broken, we’ll have failed as parents and community members.

As parents, mentors, and neighbors, it is our responsibility to guide the future with intention. Raise sons and daughters who value unity, not division. Teach them the importance of accountability, not through lectures, but through actions—by holding ourselves and our leaders to the standards we wish to see in them.

The system has failed us. County employees go unpaid for months, yet we expect them to be ethical. We blame corruption but ignore the hunger driving it. The cycle is vicious: poverty begets dependency, and dependency creates leaders who thrive on handouts rather than solutions.

If we are to rebuild, we must start from the ground up, brick by brick. This isn’t just about the county’s failures; it’s about the foundation of who we are as a people. We must first fix the basic unit—the family—before we can demand accountability from our leaders.

The future is daunting, but it’s also malleable. It depends on the lessons we instill in our children today. Teach them the value of integrity, the strength in unity, and the necessity of standing for what is right. We may not see the change we desire in our lifetime, but our efforts will shape the generations to come.

As Chávez said, “Once you educate the people, you cannot make them unlearn.” This is our chance to educate—not just with words, but with action.

We may have lost grip of who we are, but it’s not too late to reclaim it. Change starts with us, with our families, our communities, and the voices we amplify. We are faceless, yet we see. Divided, we’ve been conquered, but united, we can rise.

From all of us at Voice of Taita Taveta, we wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Thank you for walking this journey with us. Let’s keep the fire burning. 


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