“Honour”
Hello folks,
A great nation
is one that is built off of high standards of achievement, not only in the area
of economy or democracy, but in character and leadership. In the way in which
we present ourselves to the world, and the way in which we intend the world to
see us.
I this day,
wanna talk about honour defined as “high respect, esteem, the adherence to what
is right.” But that begs the question, what defines what is right and what is wrong?
How does one determine, within the complexity of our world today, the small,
sometimes minute elements of an action that define it as “the right thing to
do” when presented with a difficult situation? We overcome all these challenges
and forge on as a nation.
However, there
is a point in our journey that we stepped in a pool of mud that has since
refused to leave the sole of our most valuable shoe: Corruption and tribalism.
I guess this atmosphere filled with an air mixture of mediocrity and varied
degrees of backwardness has created a humid weather fertile for ensuring the
mud does not dry out. Remember it is mud with a permanence that cannot be
altered. So we believe.
Remember that
instinct, that intuition that helps make critical decisions in the blink of an
eye… that helps make that choice between action and inaction… that is something
that must come from within.
Whether you
believe it or not, Kenya looks up to you now. If you can’t do it for yourself,
do it for your children and children children. Walk around and you’ll meet
great people who do not speak your mother tongue and never knew they existed.
We exist in a
society today where the act of helping one another seems to have become
increasingly infrequent. The media portrays the world as a pretty horrible
place. Leaders have been found killed and nothing done about it. How many
unknown Kenyans face the same fate in the hands of gangstas and after a few PR
stunts by authorities, we see them walk freely on the streets for luck of
evidence. Hahaha. Indeed it is luck of honour.
Now those
facts… they were easy to find. All you have to do is open up any news website
on the internet, or tune into to any news channel on the television to be
inundated with the information that our world is inherently bad, that the
actions of human beings are atrocious, and that violence is too much a part of
culture, hatred is too much a part of our existence, to ever be eradicated.
What they
don’t tell us, however, what’s harder to find, is what people do for one
another each and every day that is good. What about the Beyond Zero Campaign.
What about Lupitah Nyong’o and the many Kenyans doing great at home and beyond.
What about that gentleman who found a
bag with Ksh. 100,000 lying on the side of the road and went to great lengths
to find its rightful owner rather than keeping it for himself? Now some of you
are probably laughing right now. What an idiot, who would give up Ksh. 100,000?
Finders keepers, losers weepers, right? But the fact is that you are Kenyans. And
that changes things.
Good is all
around us, but sometimes we get confused. What about that man who comes in late
because they were helping a friend clean up the cafeteria. But now here’s the
inherent problem, and we see it within our own nation, just as sure as we see
it anywhere else. What happens to that man when they start picking up after
their friends? What happens to that man when they offer to help someone? I
know, because oftentimes I am that man. And you know what happens? They get
laughed at. Laughed at for extending a helping hand, laughed at for offering to
make somebody’s life just that much easier.
My prayer is
we rejoice in doing good things. The small things you do everyday… those are
things that will define the Society after my generation leaves, and those are
the things that will define you as individuals. It is expected of each and
every one of us, that we are the ones who rise above the petty laughter and
immaturity, that we are the ones willing to go to the extra lengths to ensure
that the cafeteria is kept clean, or that somebody in need is assisted. And I
hope and trust that you will live up to those expectations.
Let me tell
you now that while there may be some people who will complain and say that what
we do is unimportant, there’s a far greater amount who recognize the
significance of what we do, and a far greater number of people who need us.
I pass the
torch to a new generation of members of a society that lives for honour. All of
you here, are leaders. Whether you are leaders because of your academic
achievement, leaders in arts, sports or in business, you represent the part of
the Kenya that we as a community are most proud of. You represent that
difference between right and wrong. That choice between action and inaction.
I trust that
each and every one of you will strive to live up to the expectations of your
community, country, but most importantly, yourselves.
Finally, this
election is not about taking sides, its about doing right for you and your
children. This can only happen if our preferred criteria enables us get the
crème de la crème of our day.
Asanteni,
Don $anto
EAMAward
Winner,
Leader At The
Klassik Clan
#iAmKlassik
#DonSanto4President
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