Do not be plagued by inferiority complex, like we did in our youth, thinking people who lived in single rooms in OlKalou town, and shopped for all their food were better than us, just because they wore shoes and bathed every day. We were better than them in every way and they envied our lives on the huge farms but we did not know it, until much later.
On weekends, end of month or Christmas when working people from the city comes to OlKalou looking clean and sophisticated, do not be intimidated by what you see. Most of them can barely make ends meet. They are struggling financially, living on debt including some of the fashionable clothes you see them wearing. They try to look successful because that is what society expects of them and they do not want their struggles to be obvious.
Review the budget, a few pages back, of somebody earning Kes.50,000 in the city, and you will understand why they have no money to spare. If you have an income, however small and still lives at home with minimal expenses, you are the envy of those salaried city dwelling weekend visitors. They wish they had your life, but they will never say that to you. Keep working hard, hold your head up high and enjoy your life.
Consider this too: Majority of the people working in the city, will eventually retire to their rural homes. They will be coming to a life they are not accustomed to. If you can make life work for you in the rural area today, you are already steps ahead of them. You will be settled and comfortable by the time they come back, trying to navigate a life they are not familiar with. You will be their hero if you give them work or show them how to start their own venture to help them make some money while they live out their retirement.
Why leave now to join the employment ‘rat race’ in the city and big towns, only to come back years later to start doing exactly what you can do today and be of benefit to your community, growing with it and developing opportunities for the next generation and the returning retirees.
