VOF Week 4: (The World through my eyes: Safer and better place to live in)

It is said that mankind is complex beyond comprehension. I cannot, of course, speak for every other individual on this earth, but I believe that I’m not a very difficult person to understand. My life is based upon two very simple, sweeping philosophies: pragmatism in actions and idealism in thought. I believe utterly in one of those old clichés: we are given only a limited time upon this earth and every moment wasted is lost forever. Therefore, I do not engage in those things that I view as useless. Also, I am a hardcore idealist. I believe that I can change the world, and I intend to. Either one man at a time, or a generation at a time, I will leave my stamp emblazoned upon humanity. I maintain that there lies in a man or for that matter in a woman, the ability to accomplish anything and everything. Nothing is impossible.

My country, which was once a land of peace, is turning into something that is not one inch close to being peaceful. It is disheartening to see that people don’t even have the basic freedom to move without the fear of being robbed, beaten, murdered, and the like. I want to share with my WorldPulse family the night of November 19, 2007. My father was kidnapped by an unidentified group for a ransom of NRs. 2.5 million. We did not know where to get the money from. There was this feeling of desperation. News of this kind is common in my country, where nobody is immune from danger. But when that happened to my father, I realized what this fear is like. My father came back home the next day, thanks to the support of the police, the civil society, and the media. When he was brought back home, he had bruises all over his body, his clothes were torn, and he was drenched in his blood. I did not want to cry, because getting back dad safe and was a blessing in itself. But it broke my heart to see him in that condition. I kept wondering if those people will ever realize what agony they bring to families whose members they kidnap or murder..Owing to that incident, I visualize a country where mothers and wives send their husbands and sons out without the fear of not being able to see them again.
Media is strong-there is no doubt about it. Voices of citizens are many a time suppressed in my part of the world. In the past 7 years, my country has seen so many things-a very few good ones and many not so good ones. The series of misfortune started with the Royal Massacre which was followed by the new king taking over all the powers on February 2005. Followed by this, the April Movement in 2005 (also called the People’s Movement II) took back the powers of the king, and many more. During all these events, the voices of the citizens, and the journalists, were suppressed. People were cut off from the media. News channels were blocked. It was during this time that the journalists rebelled. They started blogging and reached out to the world, giving them all the pieces of information and the news happening in the country. This is when I realized how strong writing can be-what great impact it can make.

As a correspondent, I want to make the voices of the voiceless heard. I want to bring to light the gruesome reality that people here face every day. Being a correspondent will help me to bring a revolution in my country, and the world- a revolution of change. World Pulse is a new generation of Citizenship Journalism-it transcends the social structure and the national borders. My story will not be limited to a few individuals-it will reach out equally to the people of Kenya, as it will be to the people of America.

In a radio interview recently, I was asked what empowerment means to me. It was a difficult question, I tried nevertheless. I said: “Empowerment to me is to be able to speak my mind, without any apprehensions.” I reckon WorldPulse will give me the avenue-day-in, day-out.