Christmas: A season to be thankful

Standing here in Beijing suffering in minus five degree weather and surrounded by haze that makes the throat tickle, the feeling of holiday cheer is the furthest thing from your mind. The only thought going through my head is “I need to get back inside where it is warm”. As anyone who knows anything about China will tell you, religion isn’t a big deal here. Christianity is even a smaller deal and its festivals even less. In fact, students will have class tomorrow and banks and other businesses are open as usual. In other words, it isn’t very Christmas-y over here. The gaudy lights and ubiquitous carols about baby Jesus blaring everywhere are things I miss more than I ever thought I would. I had taken them for granted and now that I don’t see them, I feel bereaved. I wish I could magically make it home. This homesickness got me thinking. When was the last time I was thankful for all the things in my life? For my health? The health of my loved ones? For my job? For my friends? My house-help, who after years in my employ hasn’t robbed me blind? Looking further afield, how often do I appreciate just how lucky we are to live in Rwanda today? I know that I (and many other writers) have made it our duty to complain about something every week. We complain about local government. We complain about the water and electricity shortage. We complain about laws enacted. We complain about the high taxes. We complain about the state of governance. We complain about the rains. We complain about the lack of rain. We are a glass half-empty kind of people. Which is not necessarily a bad thing. Because we demand more and more, we are able to get more and more. This constant need for betterment is what is dragging us from the mire of poverty. We expect more from our civil servants and they are forced to comply. The result? A government that is one of the least corrupt and most efficient in the continent. Of course we aren’t where we need to be. The statistics still show that we are largely still a poor, poor country. Too many people are still going hungry. Not enough children get the quality of education that they deserve. Not enough electricity is generated to keep the lights on and power the economy (here in China, I’m still somewhat taken aback that I haven’t suffered a power cut). Not enough businesses are in the country to absorb all the high school and tertiary graduates that schools churn out every year. Not enough doctors are in the country to provide good healthcare for the millions of Rwandans that deserve it. I could go on and on all day and I wouldn’t finish airing our dirty laundry. But that is not what I’m doing today. Today I’m thankful for what we have. Lets look around. DR Congo is continuously on the cusp of tragicomedy. The Central African Republic is engaging in a spate of violence that is becoming genocidal at the most (and sectarian at best). South Sudan is experiencing teething problems that could undo all the good work its accomplished over the last two years since it gained independence. While one country decided to legislatively attack its small, harmless homosexual community another one suffered the dual tragedy of losing a global icon while becoming simultaneously a laughing stock. In other words, we’ve had it good this year. Of course it could have been better. For example, it would have been nice if we weren’t constantly dragged into the Congo mess. I certainly would’ve done without the rockets and Ntaganda’s of this world. But if we examine where we are today, only the worst naysayer would say that we are worse off than we were at the beginning of the year. And that is something to be truly thankful for.Merry Christmas dear readers, be blessed. The writer is a New Times editor currently pursuing a post-graduate degree Twitter: @sannykigali

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Christmas: A season to be thankful