A walk through the busy
streets of Nairobi town once in a while, I must say, drives me into deep
thought; being a curious person, I get to make new discoveries beyond that which
meets the eye!
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| The streets of Nairobi (Photo courtesy of travelguide.com) |
On this particular day,
I can’t help but notice this spot that everyone seems to be glancing at, one
after the other, discomfort written over their faces … some even struggling to
avoid this view that really seems disturbing.
I may have raised this
issue once but I still can’t seem to comprehend it, most of us if not all have
either witnessed this once in a while or maybe you were so much in a hurry to
notice it!
I have gotten used to
the idea of bumping into beggars once in a while along the streets some of whom
seem to be physically challenged… this doesn’t seem to be an issue anymore and
we have accepted the fact that they are a part of the busy town…
This being the case, I
came to discover that there is a new strategy that’s really startling, that is
being used by some people in their quest to seek for financial aid: Have you
ever come across people (young & old) lying along or at different corners
of the streets with large manila papers or boards with writings on them placed
beside them? They could be easily mistaken for street families not unless you
look keenly.
Most of the times you
will find that these are people with very serious medical conditions and the
writings on the boards, a description of what the victim is suffering from,
with their main agenda being to seek financial assistance. Do these people
really understand the risks that they are exposing themselves to, considering
the fact that they are always stationed at very unhygienic corners? There are
these two scenarios where one man has his intestines popping out from an open
wound on the area around his stomach and the second one has serious burns all
over his body and has been exposed to the heat from the solar; one would
clearly conclude that these people need serious medical attention but here they
are exposed to all sorts of environmental risks. Could this be a case of desperate
times calling for desperate measures?
I am shocked at the
discovery of how poverty has driven humanity to taking such actions. I am sure
these victims belong to families and sometimes these are the same people who bring
them to the streets and back home in the evening. All this is done with the
intention of wooing passers – by to search deeper into their pockets for that
coin that has not been budgeted for.
That aside, is it
really ethical for such events to be taking place on our streets? How is this
money given, being spent? Or is this just a ploy by somebody to make that extra
shilling at the other person’s expense? I really don’t think its fair at all
for both parties; the victim and passers-by since some of these scenes are so
unbearable and can even lead to psychological trauma!
So who is to blame for this madness on our
streets? Is it the government; the city council for
allowing this to happen,
poverty, families of these people, or is it just another issue to be ignored?By:
Dorcas Waringa
{9th March, 2012}
