Wise Old Man

I really expected the bus drive from Kampala to Kigali to take 6 hours, but 9 hours later we were still on the road. I wasn't mad though, the seats were really comfy and I had the pleasure of sitting with the 2 bus drivers when they weren't driving. The first guy was cool, we talked about his family, he's Kenyan from the Kamba tribe. He was telling me about how men that aren't circumsised are treated like kids in his culture, imagine that! Similar to Xhosa's, when grown men make decisions if you haven't had your nip/tuck, they ask you to leave.

But the best part of the trip was sitting with the second old man. OMW! Had the most riveting and stimulating conversation since I started this trip! The old guy and I started off on a bad note, he was giving me a funny look for putting one of my feet on the seat, but I explained that the massive bag in front of me wouldn't let me straighted my leg (and I really do have a knee problem). After a couple of minutes he asked me who I am, told him I'm from SA and we got to talking. The first thing we discussed (go figure) was Mandela. I've been doing a lot of reading on politics since I started with TMALI and this guy could've easily been one of the lecturers.

Am gonna try and summarise some of the stuff we discussed, I kept scribbling in my journal as we went:

* The need for political leaders to see their role not as a means of getting rich but as a role meant to serve. He told me about President Nyerere who once said: 'I'm not a boss, I'm a servant.'

* We also discussed the legacy of poverty in Africa. He told me about this one proverb which says: 'Gie me bread and you would've killed me, give me a seed and you would've shown me the way.'
This was an interesting one and he gave me an example of president Wa Motharika (mind my spelling) in Malawi who gave his people free farming equipment and seeds, then offered to buy crop from them once it grew. The results were amazing!

* He then shared with me the story of how BATA the shoe company was formed. Two men went to India, the one was a sympathiser and the other one was a man of ideas. The sympathiser saw all the bare-foot people of India and said: 'I'm going to go home and get people to donate shoes to India.' The ideas man said: 'There's a huge opportunity to sell shoes in India.' He then went back to shoe manufacturers, they gave him capital and from there one of the world's biggest shoe brands was born!

* He said something interesting: 'Not everyone who begs is a beggar.' I think we were discussing how the culture of 'being owed' has made us lazy. Some of us beg because it's the easy way out, the west becomes an enabler to our laziness.

* Then we discussed African politics. He is a huge Mbeki fan, was telling me how admired the man is throughout Africa for being an economist and encouraging Africa to unite and develop economically.

* Then we discussed relationships. So fascinating. One thing he said to me was: 'If I hit my wife, then I must stop sleeping with her. Because clearly I see her as a child and I cannot sleep with a child.'

*Still on the relationships tip, he told me that a lot of our behaviour is based on emulating our parents. He also said that in any relationship, the strongest weapon is silence. He's been married for 30 years!

*Another one of his quotes: Corruption is a cancer in Africa.

I really enjoyed our chat, I showed him the book I'm currently reading: Art of War and we discussed some of Sun Tzu's ideas... Imagine!