Your life hasn’t always run on time and this is something you don’t need to study in school. Things will never get better and if you are one of the many young people who will inherit nothing, not even a chicken or goat from your dad, you need to buckle up.
There is a very long ride for you with possibility of fatal accident on the way because, on the other side of the river, there are wealthy men who have already promised to leave behind mansions, money and even government positions for their children and they are not acting a movie, they are meaning it. This is real life and there are many examples around.
Every new day, for every South Sudanese, has been lived with hope but hope has its breaking point, the wait for the things hoped must come to an end but with all I have seen, I can proudly say you are free to give up. Go home today and lock yourself inside and cry if you can.
Stop listening to motivational speakers who keeps saying that this will be okay or even your church pastors who keeps reminding you about God’s plans for your future because these are human beings like you trying to figure everything out.
Face your own realities. Face your fears. Stop putting your hopes on the J.1 men. They are there to stay and they are not moved by your sad story or your struggles with life in Juba or even how your father lost his life in line of duty, fighting for this country.
Forget it. Those are just and won’t change a thing. For the past few days, there has been a heated debate between some of the country’s dissenting voices and some citizens, about appointment of the president’s notable daughter, with some labeling her as “wun weng” which literally means “Cow’s owner”
The cow metaphorically means South Sudan and if I had it right, they are saying the lady owns everything including the 13 millions South Sudanese, which, according to me, is a very big responsibility for a young woman of her age.
The lady, who had kept a low profile for a long time showed up a year or two ago in the noble robes of philanthropy, through her ASK Foundation, a nonprofit, she says, dedicated to helping the disadvantaged.
Even though the organization hasn’t achieved 100 percent of its projects, we can still appreciate the idea of wanting to help the less fortunate because in this country, the crumbs of the rich are served to the poor as banquets.
For years, the ordinary South Sudanese has lived and walked in extreme poverty, clothed in suffering, and fed on disappointments.
Generations are born, grow up, and die without ever tasting what true peace feels like. And I hate to say it, but nothing about this is going to change anytime soon. The elites have already designed the game to work for them and their children.
It is almost like a family business. Don’t fool yourself into thinking elections will rescue you. The dice was loaded before you were even born. Let us accept our reality without being bitter because this is something anyone can do if we were in president’s shoes.
If by some miracle, you woke up tomorrow as president, would you not employ your brother as minister? Would you not appoint your uncle as an ambassador, your nephew as a general? Don’t pretend.
The presidency is just a mirror and it is just that we don’t want to look at ourselves in the mirror. It will never change and the next rulers will repeat the same script.
So what is left for you, the ordinary man or woman with no powerful father, no uncle, no last name that opens doors? It is one of the two; it is either you work yourself to the bone or give up and accept your fate.
Life will not be easy. Life will never be fair. Life, in fact, might not even be life. It is just survival, day after day, until you can no longer keep your eyes open.
There is no lie here or anything to hide. This country belongs to the ruling elites and I can say it again. They are the landlords. We are the tenants. They own the bakery; we lick the crumbs.
They dine in silence, we shout in hunger, even in chapatti stalls. They appoint their children into power; we count our losses. Focus on your school or your family because your sad ordeals won’t change a thing.
Do not waste your time believing they will one day feel guilty. Guilt does not exist in J1. Those walls are immune to shame. Their hearts are armored against compassion. If you wait for their mercy, you will wait until your bones turn to dust.
So, my friend, if you want to give up, go ahead and if you want to lose hope, you can do so because this system is not designed for you. Cry if you must, laugh if you can, and live if you are able. But stop expecting a miracle from the wealthy and the powerful politicians. They do not wake up thinking about you. They wake up thinking about how to keep what they already have and how to pass it on to their children. Thank you