NATASHA'S CHRONICLES : Humility from our very roots

I am particularly intrigued by our ‘roots’, the parents of our parents. We as society are not as good in record keeping but a good percentage of our family and other historical records are the mobile archives we call; grandma, ‘mukecuru’, ‘papa mukuru’, ‘mama’, or whatever else we refer to them. As stores of knowledge, specifically knowledge from experience, it seems they have it all. They surprise you with the content of; geography, math, physics, chemistry, social relations, politics, medicine, biology, commerce, et cetera. This they know and practice yet they don’t even know the name of the subject; what a treasure! As stores of wealth, somehow they always have something for everybody to be satisfied. At Rwf5000, we grieve that we are broke, but grandma or grandpa, at Rwf5000 is equivalent to Bill Gates! And they are willing to give it all to you to meet your needs. They believe God will give them more, and He surely does, it seems; for their provision doesn’t end. We will often notice that there’s always a bite to share in their world. Their homes can be compared to either a granary or a fast food store, because there is always some food to share. Fascinating as it is, they usually insist that you shouldn’t leave before you’re sure your stomach has had enough. The amount available is never an issue, whatever it is, it’s enough to share. If need be, they’ll even pretend they don’t need food and can do with a cup of tea or milk, just so you have no excuse not to eat from the little they have! Their energy, the magic behind their life is incomprehensible; while they tell you they are sick, they will be in the kitchen supervising the lunch cooking. And while they tell you they had a sleepless night, they actually were busy sewing a sweater for you or your little one, trying to pass a thread in the needles eye with their sleepless eyes. While they say they are suffering joint pains, they’re busy tending their flowers. How humbling! Their unconditional love is the source of our sense of security. They’re the only people who’ll take our insults and the pain we cause, and still believe you have a chance in life, and try to play a part in grooming you because their affection and forgiveness comes natural. Theirs is the most optimistic way of life. For them, everything will happen right no matter the difficulties. Everyone will emerge a winner no matter the huddles. Most of us actually owe our success and happiness to their prayers. Perhaps all this is why God gives them more friends. Unless you are truly bad, you could never hurt this old person whose knowledge, love, energy, wealth, well wishes, and food you’ve shared and lived on. I think they deserve our honor. The author is a Senior 5 student at Riviera High School hozatash@yahoo.com