We all need role models in our lives. Somebody we can look up to. Somebody who is in better circumstances than our current situation. I call them Mirror Holders. When your role model stands in front of you, they are like a mirror reflection of your future self. They are presenting the version of yourself you aspire to become. This is not to stoke inferiority complex, but rather to stir up the desire to follow the trail your role models blazed, because their end results are clear for all to see. They must have done something right to achieve those results.
My sister was raised by the same parents who were raising us. She received the same education they were striving to give us. She was now a living testament of how to achieve success inspite of tough circumstances like we were currently enduring. You can come out better on the other end and change your circumstances for good. I knew that for a fact, after experiencing my sisters’ wonderful life for that one month. I had a role model. I now wanted to work harder and make a life of my own, just like my sister did for herself.
One might be tempted to think that my sister had a charmed life all along. Far from it. She was born in the 1950s under colonial rule. She was one of the toddlers left behind when my father was sent to political detention for seven years. My mother became a single mother overnight during a time of war. She was now the sole breadwinner otherwise her children would starve. She had to seek employment immediately from the only employer they had; the ruthless British colonists who owned extensive plantations and numerous factories. Like mentioned in a previous chapter, the mothers dropped off their children at designated “daycare” centers which were actually wire mesh cages to keep the children in. My sister was one of those caged children. They spent their days in that degrading, confining space, eating the white porridge with no sugar or milk for breakfast and weevil infested githeri for lunch. My sister still remembers the weevils (mbuca) that floated on their githeri, but they ate it anyway. They had no choice. She had similar experiences when she started school under colonial rule. She endured all that just to get an education while majority of girls her age gave up and opted to get married instead.
Who are your role models? Most importantly, who are you modelling your life to, so they may desire to be like you? You do not need a degree to be a role model. You do not need to have plenty of money to be a role model. Exercise your God given talents, working hard and living a decent honorable life, every day of your life, and you will be amazed at how many young people you will inspire, as they look up to you as their role model.
