It takes a lot of courage to accept the reality of this life and everything that comes with it.
This has to do with every routine, taking a boda from where you live and having to put up a rude face for the boda man never to charge you twice the usual amount.
They must know that you are not happy and that your life is hard. If you are smartly dressed and seem to be in a hurry, they will charge you more. It is even going to be worse if you are carrying a small school bag.
It is very easy to think that you carry money in that bag. That is why Toronto boys will never allow you to use it for the second time if you don’t carry it with care.
Don’t call a boda guy when you are walking with your girlfriend. The chaps can humiliate you in front of her by charging you exorbitantly and she will begin to wonder how she got into a relationship with a broke dude like you in the first place with your big head.
In fact, she may even ask you what Tumaini is about and this time; there are two things that are going to happen. It is either you run away or you just scratch your head because in the world, what does it mean? All you know are footballers, the likes of Erik Ten Hag. You have a lot of reasons to know them because your life depends on it. If you have ever tried betting, then you know what this one means.
If you are a young girl, test your boyfriend’s reasoning abilities just once in a while, especially on global affairs and foreign policy. If you want him to continue to love you and buy you gifts, ask him to tell you about the presidents of countries like Brunei, Kyrgyzstan and Kosovo. Let him also tell you if he knows Benjamin Franklin, Cheikh Anta Diop or Christopher Columbus. Things like democracy or first world problems. Ask him if he knows any of these. Don’t be a liability to him, tell him business ideas because if you do, he will look for cows, call your uncles and marry you. He will worship you for the rest of his life and that means he will never look for another wife.
To survive in the hands of boda-bodas, all you need is to behave like you are not in a hurry. Pretend that you don’t even want to use a motorcycle. If they insist, tell them that you had a fight with your landlord the previous night and that you broke his arm. Trust me, he will ask you to bring what you have.
Everyday life in Juba is about struggle, with problems and even people. It is equally a blessing to be here because not everyone is lucky enough to make it. If you are a common man, you have to be street smart. You need to be very strong to stay alive because everyone is already annoyed and they are looking for someone to transfer their anger or frustrations to.
If you have borrowed someone’s money in the past, you need to know that you are always on his or her mind. Life is hard and people want to survive. The government on the other hand says they have some money but it is not enough to pay all the civil servants, so they have to use the revenues from the oil and taxpayers’ money to support their families. The citizenry can wait until the country is good enough to provide for everyone.
The idea that we are one people has lost its meaning or it does not work here. You are on your own and it is up to you to accept this reality or live in continual denial of it. Not too early to see economic disparities between the country ‘s elites and the poorest of our land. The gap is unimaginable and each day is a constant reminder that it is only going to widen.
For the years I have lived on this earth, I have been fortunate enough to witness people with so much wealth and those who survived on the crumbs, living each day as if it were their end. There is no doubt, South Sudan happens to be one of the few countries in the world with two social classes, the richest and the poorest. There is no middle ground. It is either you are very rich or very poor. The ultra-wealthy, mostly VIPs or politicians, make up 10 per cent of the population. And 5 per cent goes to groups that work for private companies or humanitarian agencies. These people are not rich but at least they can put the food on the table for their loved ones and even pay school fees for their children. 85 per cent is extremely poor. I mean, in the fullness of those words, living hand to mouth.
The VIPs, consisting of politicians and businessmen, are known for extravagant spending, buying fancy cars now and then. When they give, they surprise their friends with car keys and even government positions. This is why your success in this country is mostly determined by the kind of family you come from. If you have an uncle with a leg ahead, just having that one person solves 90 per cent of your problems.
The problem with VIPs is thinking that the world and everything in it revolves around them. They think they own the country with everything it has. They can’t wait or even act nice to others. When they are driving, they even ask small car owners or the common citizens to stop for them to pass.
They are always busy going somewhere. For them, life is too short for everyone to enjoy. They want to be the ones to have a taste of that life. The less privileged should blame God for their predicament or even leave if they are not comfortable or happy here. Inside the minds of these VIPs, South Sudan happens to be one of the few countries after Finland with happy people because they are living lavishly and so they think everyone is as happy as they are. But as a normal person without a VIP status, all that you see is suffering, pain, sickness, unemployment, killing and underdevelopment. I pray that the VIPs of our land walk a mile in the shoes of the common people one day. Peace.