This is my first, and I want to rant about the way I have been feeling for days now, in as few words as possible. It is not about self-pity, neither is it supposed to be a dirge. Writing about this is a catharsis – a relief from thoughts I should probably have less of now.
The struggle of the young person in Africa, especially one heading into the tech space without help, is akin to the struggle of Sisyphus, the Greek myth.
The myth has it that Sisyphus was condemned to roll a rock up to the top of a mountain, only to have it roll back down to the bottom every time he reaches the top.
Thinking of Sisyphus and young Africans like myself reminds me of a saying I have heard a lot of recently that “everything appears clearer in hindsight.”
Many who may doubt their reality and how unfair things are, will in hindsight learn what lessons they do not learn now. The life of a young African is like pushing one’s affairs up the hill of hope, only to have it crash speedily upon getting to the top.
My story so far is similar to that of many Africans whose dreams are suspended like geosynchronous satellites by the rudeness of our reality.
A reality that is for now very dull and full of many horrors. A reality that has made the possession of a dreamy escape from it the only luxury that many can afford, and may ever be able to.
The young person’s reality is one that points them in directions they’d rather honestly not travel. Understanding the helplessness of the situation and perhaps having a bit of experience, one is tempted to ask in resignation – “would you blame them?”
The human struggle is one of survival. From time, survival has been the way forward. How do people survive when one has been stripped of all they can survive on? How does one build things for society when one has been stripped of what equips them to build and deliver these things?
As someone interested in tech, I have found it difficult getting things done when most of the things I need, I do not have and have nowhere to get help from.
In spite of how I see what happens in the world, and to me, like in celestial mechanics, we need to maintain escape velocity.
That right amount of continuous energy that is needed for us to escape the limiting gravitational pull that seeks to keep us down and under.
As I move, one step at a time into the tech space to build products I and many others would need, I will with this medium give updates on the progress I have made. Stay good!
Great piece! The struggle is practically in every sector for young Africans. The ecosystem is not favorable in any front for young persons in Africa, therefore, solutions are to be holistic, inclusive and realistic hence, there would be effect across other sectors if solutions are sought only from a single front.
Great piece! The struggle is practically in every sector for young Africans. The ecosystem is not favorable in any front for young persons in Africa, therefore, solutions are to be holistic, inclusive and realistic hence, there would be effect across other sectors if solutions are sought only from a single front.