Why do the poorest people have the most kids?

I don’t know why it is so unfortunate that the people who really could do without any more kids are the same ones having them year in year out. Much as condoms have been provided free of charge to these people, somehow the kids are still piling up. I mention only condoms in this text because this is the only means of family planning most rural people can afford. And in this era they don’t even have to buy them anymore seeing as they have been generously supplied to areas across the country. Other family planning methods like the morning after pill or the injection are sort of a luxury when it comes to rural people. Besides, who sells the morning after pill in the village and who would even care to buy it? A man would rather spend his money on local booze than give his wife money to control her pregnancy rate even when he is clearly tired of the already existing kids. It’s funny how you find one couple with more money than they can spend desperate for a child but to no avail. Yet in a certain village somewhere, chilling in a grass thatched hut with hardly any food to survive on is a couple with 12 kids and about three on the way. And that’s just the beginning of their problems. Life is not fair, we all know that but we can also do something to ease it a bit. For instance, if you are given condoms, don’t throw them in the corner of your room thinking the ones who gave them to you were fools. When it’s time for the last laugh, I can guarantee you it won’t be you doing the laughing! I know it’s probably easier said than done but in all honesty how hard is it to wear a condom and prevent the stress that will surely come along if you don’t? If you know how you will provide for these kids then by all means, fill the earth and conquer it. But if you don’t have a penny to your name, then be responsible and don’t bring innocent kids into the world to just suffer. It is not only irresponsible but downright selfish too. And I don’t even want to get into the health risks that come with that as well. Family planning is not rocket science. I’m sure even the poorest of schools teach a thing or two on how to avoid unwanted pregnancies. At the end of the day, it is you who will have to put up with all the stress that could have been avoided had you just worn that simple thing they call a condom. Sure it’s not 100% effective but it has literally saved lives and continues to do so. A couple of nights of unimaginable pleasure will not even begin to cover the years of emotional, physical and financial trauma that will certainly follow. Even local health centers have pin up charts that continue to educate people who might want to use the excuse of ‘nobody told me’. And they are even written in the local language so really there is just no excuse. And as women, we need to understand the health hazards our bodies will face if we keep on going at it like rabbits. It’s easy for men to say they want lots of kids, for it’s not their body that has to carry them for a tiring nine months only to find out you are pregnant a ridiculous 6 months later! It is dangerous and the results could even prove fatal. Kids need reasonable space between themselves and not be born like they were literally being fished out of you. Have kids if you have some sort of plan on how to take care of them and not just throw them on earth and call it a job well done. The biggest problem is having them every chance you get yet you haven’t the faintest idea what to do when they arrive. We were all schooled to some point and sexual reproduction is a topic I’m certain even the dullest of kids paid attention to. All we have to do is practice what we were taught. It’s as easy as breathing! rachelgaruka@yahoo.co.uk