On Mental Health

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On mental illness, there is much that we do not know. There are the more severe kinds that require you to be in hospital taking jabs of all sorts of medicine and then there are the daily occurrences that hardly have us thinking twice that we could be suffering from mental disorders and/or illnesses. That tiny tantrum you threw this morning for absolutely no reason or that massive mood swing you had because your sugar dish ran out…or how about that bout of cursing you did because you sent the baby of all typos on that text to your boss…or how you just loooooove ‘comfort food’; that could be a sign of a mental disorder, a startup symptom so to speak; the irony that is life, right?

There’s more than the average range of mental disorders that are mostly known to us. These include the likes of anxiety disorders, mood disorders, psychotic disorders, eating disorders, impulse control and addiction disorders, personality disorders, OCD, PTSD, adjustment disorders, dissociative disorders, factitious disorders, sexual and gender disorders, somatic symptom disorders, tic disorders, dementia or what is now commonly known as Alzheimer’s Disease just to name a few, most of which you thought were normal occurrences that one could attribute to weather changes , changes in diet, sleep patterns, bodily functions etc, right? WRONG!

So journey with us for the rest of the week as we give you insight on exactly what all the above mentioned could be. And learn why you mustn’t take any for granted because, I hate to be the bearer of bad news but even Alzheimer’s starts with very mild or negligible symptoms that we deem normal.

It is also very important that we familiarize ourselves with these disorders not only for ourselves but even for those around us and the people we love. I have read heartbreaking stories of people who have had to take care of their loved ones that have unfortunately fallen victim of mental illness that could have well been avoided.

Not only for purposes of prevention but also so as to understand victims of those really-hard-to-manage diseases in a bid to build tolerance and courage to face.

I’m no doctor, but I know how to gather information, how to manage it and share it. Trust me, you’re better off knowing than not. Besides, information IS power, right?

Welcome aboard!

My two cents on Masaku 7s

Following the recent buzz on social media regarding what has since been described as the biggest even of the year, I would like to give my view. I like to talk after the flame is calm because research is very important. So yes, it is confirmed that whatever happened. There’s photo s doing rounds all over the net. Everyone is busy sucking their teeth talking about “The youth today…”
I will not post today to condemn anyone or what-not. I think waking up on Monday with a hangover from here to hell and a revelation of your photos doing rounds on the internet in which you are in compromising situations that you can’t remember is more than enough punishment for anyone. Yikes: trouble in triple deck; that must really juice out life for you.
Anyway, by the age of fifteen you more or less have a rough idea of what’s wrong and what’s right. Even with catch phrases like YOLO, you still know. You cannot unlearn the principles that society has founded as part of your growing up. As such, no victim of the ‘paparazzi’ can say they didn't know. No, I'm not being Momma Bear, I know people who were victims of this and I told them the same thing.
So as the youth, we are apparently known to corrupt just about anything we get our hands on - and maybe it’s true. When it comes to practicing democracy which was oh so graciously given to us by our forefathers, we are the first to turn to violence whenever we are unhappy; when we lose a soccer game, we have stones in our pockets (never mind that we were searched before entering the venue…how??? We should really tap into this creativity and channel it to more important things, aye? ); when we are accorded the rights to protest peacefully, we want to loot innocent raia, stone people and basically just ruin everyone’s day; when we have rugby tournaments that are aimed at celebrating the game, treating true fans to day of action and bring Kenyans together, we want the entire world to know how much liquor we can buy (I won’t get into how much we can consume because if we could really handle our alcohol then we would be talking about saba saba… not saba saba, NACADA, Mututho, Masaku Sevens, Nairobi Wire, and all the bad behaviour witnessed this past few weeks).
So I sat down and thought long and hard about this issue. Obviously, this isn't the first time we've heard all this but to this extent? That is news to me too. How do we help to preserve our events and rid them of crude aftermath photos? Simple. If you have no business relating to the event, steer clear of the area. Those who really love rugby were busy at the benches watching the games. The busy bodies and thousand idlers that turned up for the event to turn up are sadly the ones whose raunchy photos are doing rounds everywhere.
We love our events; we love that our leisure time can place us on the maps as among the most fun countries to be in. Heck, our president is the second most followed president in Africa on Twitter. We are proud of our events that pull thousands, so be so kind as to not ruin it for those who the events are aimed at. When your event comes up you too will appreciate it when idlers don’t turn up to ruin it.

T-minus 5 Days

Since the saba saba rallies were announced by opposition everyone has had something to say about it. Some even forgetting that we have a myriad of problems that we need to discuss right this second. I am not trying to downplay the rallies; in fact it is faaaar much a bigger deal than what we thought.  Being only five days away, the countdown has come with it many unexpected reactions. Now, obviously, we are not all in one camp regarding the rallies but keep calm m’dear. I don’t like to discuss politics in opinion and loyalty… people always get too touchy. Just to prove it; go through your Facebook homepage and tell me if you won’t find people hurling insults at each other for differing on a politics-related topic.

What I never saw coming, though, was the circulation of hate speech –filled leaflets in Naivasha and the Tana River Delta and, even more to my shock, the fleeing that is happening in Naivasha and who-knows where else. I was quite so stoked and suffered a mini heart attack when I especially saw the photos. No, it’s not one or two people fleeing, we’re talking families here. One local newspaper reported that women and their children were fleeing and leaving their men to monitor the situation. Already families have to separate because we have allowed tribal differences to be the benchmark of everything including the entire process of running the affairs of this country. So for me, obviously, it is this ginormous sense of insecurity and spirit of fear that is my biggest concern during this countdown to the rallies.

It is not proper for anyone to live in fear in their own country owing to our ‘incapability’ in as far as appreciating and accommodating diversity on ethnic grounds is concerned.

Countries thrive at the diversity of their people. They find unity in that very diversity. We somehow look at each other as threats rather than brother and sister. The sad thing is that this ethnic based conflict became apparent to Kenyans after post election violence occurred and nearly brought this lovely country to her knees.

It seems to me that this fear is a classic example of ‘once beaten twice shy’. We are in fear of executing the political processes that concern us because we have allowed ourselves to attribute everything to ethnicity and that it is seemingly marking the downfall of Kenya and its people.

We have not healed from all the mental and emotional wounds we suffered back in 2007/08. Our physical injuries suffered from the violence have since turned into deformities, amputations and scars. Kenya and her people need to find healing and it is our responsibility to ensure that it is achieved.

Whether the rallies go down or national dialogue is agreed upon, resist, refrain and desist from raising your arm against a fellow Kenyan, hate speech, spreading propaganda, defamation, slander or destroying property. Keep your heart pure and maintain clarity of mind. Rid yourself of any negativity and advocate unity.

#WeAreOne for #WeHaveAlwaysBeenOne

Daima Mkenya :)

Gender Based Violence Is One Of The Biggest Forms Of Poverty (graphic content)

Poverty is like family. It comes in all shapes, forms and sizes… more like magnitude. It is a sad reality that with all the poverty in the world we continue to create our own poverty to add to the global misery that we are all trying to escape. Among them is the issue of gender based violence which continues to burden today’s world…never mind all the buzz that has come about it.

My heart broke the other day as I browsed about and came across an article that featured short stories of a handful of people who have survived gender based violence mostly from their families and societies but have the most painful scars I ever saw in my life…a handful that represented hundreds and thousands on such cases.

We are failing ourselves when we assume that this issue will soon come to be a thing of the past because while it remains illegal as a violation of human rights, the vice is very much prevalent in today’s world. Kenya is no exception. How many times have we heard on the news and even in our very homes of such unfortunate incidences? Now, before you dismiss this article as to having feminist grounds, I want to state here that men are just as susceptible to gender based violence as women are, granted incidences on the latter are more rampant.

You have heard thousands of people talk about “imagine it was your mother, imagine it was your sister, it was your auntie etc and all the other mammis in your life” and while that hypothetical situation hit home and raised awareness as it continues to do, I want to bring you the harsh reality void of any emotional trauma that comes with a hypothetical situation such as the above mentioned.

Look at the photogrid I made. I had a wide selection of pictures on the subject sourced from Uncle Google images. Look carefully, zoom in. Look at these survivors of gender based violence. Look at the scars and disfiguration they have to live with because we did not come to their rescue sooner to protect them from having to deal with consequent scars. Ask yourself whether any human being deserves to innocently.

 We are loud and proud that we I’ve in a free world but the sad truth is that this is, perhaps, the biggest fallacy.  How can we allow both sexes to wage war and torture one another and still claim we live in a free world? We are slaves to our own silence. Oppression continues to thrive when it is fuelled with silence because breaking silence is a prerequisite for effective change through action.

My heart bleeds. Rebuke gender based violence…

My Take on Sex education for youngsters...

The reproductive health care bill has spurred a lot of debate especially on societal morals and family values. Most of the reactions towards the bill being somewhat antagonistic. 
 Arguments brought forward include that providing school going children with contraceptives simply indicates how frayed our moral fiber is and so on and so forth. Everyone is up in arms; parents, the church, teachers.

YOUR 10 YEAR OLD COULD BE HAVING SEX!!!!!, unsafe sex. 

Why isn't anyone up in arms about that. Like the proverbial ostrich are we burying our heads in the sand? Have we seen the statistics? School going children are getting pregnant and it is by no immaculate conception. 23% of adolescent girls have kids. New studies have further shown that teens make up the highest number of new  HIV infections with over 50% .

So parents, the church and teachers are up in arms ???? because kids from the age of 10 may have access to the pill and condoms?  

So where were those arms when the children under their care we engaging in unsafe sexual escapades?

When the ostrich buries its head in the sand, it exposes its hind quarters to would be predators. The question is, would you want  your school going children to receive comprehensive sexual education and like services which may include condoms and contraceptives? or would you rather they remain exposed to the risk of unsafe sexual behaviour?

No offence but please don't tell us that you will talk to your children yourselves, your kids say you don't. That most teens prefer to receive sexual education from their parents is not disputable, however many parents do not have this information and even if they do some of them are too embarrassed to discuss these issues with their children. A survey by advocates for youth indicated that 24% of female teens and 38% of male teens have never discussed sexuality with their parents.

 And how about those kids that would prefer to discuss sexuality with anyone else other than their parents who do they talk to?

"Sex is meant for marriage" We have all heard the sermon hundreds of times yet each time it falls on deaf ears. The church mainly focuses on dire warnings and consequences and we all know that after a while the threats no longer work.

I think there is a need for a neutral party who children can talk to when their parents don't, who they can turn to when they are too scared to approach their teachers and who they can open up when they don't want to be judged by the church. This bill provides for just that.

let us stop pretending, if there was anything else that could have been done at this point  it must have already been done, we are in a crisis and we need to find solutions, this bill provides solutions however disagreeable they may be to many of us, before you bash it to the ground give us a solution that hasn't already failed and we will readily take it up.

Humans breath, tools don't; you are human…

So this morning started on a rather high note. Bumped into mom at the stage which means my bus flight was funded, hehe. And I wasn’t late for work, yaaaaay! Also, the weather was fantabulous, still is actually… you know those days when it’s just about the right among of sunny and the blue sky cloud cover ratio is also set right. Granted I didn’t have breakers, my morning was superb.  I got to work and as usual, I checked social media for udaku and sensible news alike…. My job description requires me to always be up to speed.

Then I came across a story of a man who survived the Mpeketoni attack and I closed all other tabs because this was gonna make a compelling read, unworthy of any looming distraction. So it speaks of a man who was going to cover a story, but was intercepted by a cop who warned his team not to go any further owing to clues of promised prospective danger in the area. The cop was well informed. He spoke of gunmen shooting indiscriminately and indeed it came to pass. So the above stated is a synopsis.

I could go on and on regarding the disempowerment of cops in our country, so much that one of them can have such information but not be able to take action owing to all the unnecessary protocol and bureaucracy involved in police processes. Instead, I will talk about you and I being the cause of most of insecurity in our country.

In the last two months, this country has seemingly adopted waking up to news of terrorism and mass killing as status quo. We are even beginning to be okay with the level of insecurity that has since rocked us. While you may scorn me and make faces at what I just said, but it’s true. We are the cause of terrorism, of communal attacks, of politically fuelled violence, of mass killings and the like.

It is not violence if it has only been conceptualized and envisaged, it becomes violence upon execution. So yes, we are incited, probably enticed with some pocket change and then we proceed to take away lives and make others’ a living hell. At this point, it ceases to be about the perpetrators of these killings or even their reason for doing so. It starts to be about the actual executers of these killings, the youth in particular. We have allowed ourselves to be comparable to a spanner, a screwdriver etc, only this time not to fix but to destroy.

Why risk your freedom, rights and life for a few hundred bucks at the cost of another human being’s life. It is really unfortunate. I feel like the youth are often targets of these instigators because we are hardy, energetic, obedient (well, to a certain extent) and generally broke because we are unemployed. Now, I’m not here to rub it in your face that we are dangling at the bottom of the economical chain but to tell you that the leaders who plan this will not come to your rescue when you are in mad beef with the law. They will be in the comfort of their homes, still leading their lavish lifestyle…watching as you foolishly lead yourself there. The more shy ones will go as far a s masking their evil deeds and intention s with the flimsy excuse of fighting for what is right, ;for what is just, for what is democratic for yours sake, yet somehow it doesn’t worry you that they are never really there to do the dirty job for you.

Real leaders get involved. What, with the likes of Kwame Nkrumah, Dedan Kimathi, Tom Mboya, Nelson Mandela, etc? How can you not question the intentions of someone who wants results without having to get down to the dirty business? We mustn’t be contemptuous and hostile to one another; neither must we be oh so trusting of people, no matter what. Part of growing up is adopting the ability to question and keenly evaluate sitches without obliviously falling for the perils that are almost too obvious.

Jipange.

What the budget should mean for you

As tradition has it, 12^th June is always a day that Kenyans look forward to, often all for the wrong reasons though. Now, down your ammunition and hear me out first. I will bring you to the harsh reality that NOT EVERONE IS AFFECTED BY OUR OH SO AMBITIOUS BUDGET; and the budget is a necessary evil, unless of course we are looking to mimic the Amish lifestyle. As I read 13^th June, 2014  Daily Nation, page 5 to be precise, I came across this shocking revelation that while some Kenyans literally suffer at the very feet of the budget, others have no qualms about it and while they note that the figures are rising, it doesn’t mean the same thing for them as it does for you and me. So yes, let’s start from there. I will not revisit how most of us youth are to the economic chain, what Lion King’s Timmon is to Prideland; neither will I delve into how unfair it is to hike taxes especially to the largest portion of the population, who by the way, are the worst hit with the unemployment pandemic.

Instead I will challenge you to drop all the negativity and see some good in what the budget means for you as one of the Kenyan youth. First, keep in mind that the government has allocated Ksh. 300m towards credit for prospective youth businesses and also to perpetuate those that are already in existence. So while you whine about how prices are going to skyrocket, keep in mind that your peers are already apportioning themselves the above mentioned figure.

So yes, I will not refute that every Kenyan will feel the pinch far as meeting the budget is concerned, but it’s not all bad news, Ksh 300m has been set aside for you and your friends to come up with lucrative business ideas, get up and get educated on how to access these funds because whining will only wrinkle you and not change your sitch except for worsening it.

Trust me, first world youth has it worse. Everything is expensive. At 16 you could be working two jobs and still going to school. Yet somehow, we are in the comfort zones of our parents’ homes complaining and whining. Be it known, my friend, it counts for nothing.

Be a thinker, be a problem solver, be a head honcho, believe in yourself and above all else, take action and keep the faith.