WHO TRULY "FEELS" THE POOR IN AFRICA?

WHO TRULY "FEELS" THE POOR IN AFRICA? The poor in Africa have endured hardship before the colonial period, during colonial rule, and even after independence. For generations, they have hoped for a day when their suffering would finally come to an end—or at least be significantly reduced. This raises difficult questions. Were the colonial powers solely responsible for the suffering of the poor, if at all? Or has the failure to uplift the poorest continued under African self-rule? In many cases, important reforms benefiting vulnerable people have come through a combination of internal leadership, citizen advocacy, and encouragement or pressure from international partners. At the same time, many Africans continue to question whether enough has been done by their own leaders to place the welfare of ordinary citizens at the center of national priorities. While many individuals have improved their lives through extraordinary determination and hard work, millions remain trapped in poverty, and in some places their condition has become even more difficult. The poor are often the unseen builders, producers, and sustainers of society. They supervise or construct magnificent homes, office towers, schools, and hospitals, only to return to houses made of wood, iron sheets, cardboard, or plastic. They build roads they may never drive on, assemble cars they may never own, and build airports whose aeroplanes they may never board. They sell phones and laptops they may never own. They tailor expensive suits and elegant dresses for wealthy clients and international markets, while they and their own families wear worn-out clothes. They spend long hours producing food, soap, medicine, and other essential goods that they themselves often cannot afford to buy. They care for the sick in hospitals, yet cannot afford quality healthcare when they or their own families become ill. Security officers spend their days protecting wealthy people and valuable property, while their own families often remain vulnerable. After returning their firearms at the end of a shift, many travel home with no guarantee of their own safety. They work in flower farms producing beautiful flowers for local and international markets, yet cannot afford to buy those same flowers to place on the graves of their own loved ones. Some teach in universities and colleges, yet struggle to educate their own children in those very institutions. A house helper may leave her own child with inadequate care in order to look after the child of a wealthy family, only to receive wages too small to provide adequately for her own household. Farm workers harvest abundant crops throughout the day, yet earn too little to provide sufficient food for their own families. Many are encouraged to give generously in churches to support poor people in distant places, while the poverty within their own communities often goes unnoticed. Some are paid to campaign for and praise the children of the wealthy during elections, while believing that their own sons and daughters are unworthy of leadership. Many thousands more have no employment at all. They depend entirely on a single breadwinner struggling to support an entire household. Communities could greatly benefit from trained community workers and social workers, yet governments often invest far less in these services than the need requires. People should also have a heart to help other people whenever they are able. Yet poverty is not sustained only by external forces. It is also prolonged by internal divisions. Enmity, envy, mistrust, suspicion, hopelessness, and the habit of pretending that "everything is fine" while silently suffering prevent poor communities from working together. These attitudes must come to an end. Honest conversations built on truth, respect, humility, accountability, and trust are essential if communities are to discover lasting solutions. Governments, international governmental organizations, non-governmental organizations, churches, businesses, and civil society should place the restoration of human dignity at the center of their efforts. Assistance should not merely relieve immediate suffering but also strengthen people's ability to build sustainable and independent lives while upholding their human rights. Communities themselves also have an important responsibility. They must unite, listen to men and women of integrity within their own communities who can provide wise guidance, understand their constitutions and laws, know both their rights and responsibilities, and peacefully advocate for justice and equal opportunity. Elected leaders, in turn, have a duty to enact and faithfully enforce laws that protect the vulnerable, promote equal opportunity, fight corruption, encourage productive enterprise, and ensure that the benefits of national development reach every citizen rather than a privileged few. The question, therefore, is not only who talks about the poor, but who truly feels their suffering enough to pursue justice, protect their dignity, create opportunity, and walk alongside them until poverty is no longer their permanent condition. The Bible gives a solemn warning to those who enrich themselves through injustice, greed and selfishness. James condemns those who withheld the wages of their workers while living in luxury and self-indulgence. He warns that such selfishness is not merely an economic failure but a moral one that brings God's judgment. James 5:4–5 NLT 1 Look here, you rich people: Weep and groan with anguish because of all the terrible troubles ahead of you. 2 Your wealth is rotting away, and your fine clothes are moth-eaten rags. 3 Your gold and silver are corroded. The very wealth you were counting on will eat away your flesh like fire. This corroded treasure you have hoarded will testify against you on the day of judgment. 4 For listen! Hear the cries of the field workers whom you have cheated of their pay. The cries of those who harvest your fields have reached the ears of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. 5 You have spent your years on earth in luxury, satisfying your every desire. You have fattened yourselves for the day of slaughter. 6 You have condemned and killed innocent people,[a] who do not resist you.[b] The passage reminds us that prosperity built on exploiting the poor is ultimately self-destructive. God hears the cries of those who have been treated unjustly, and He calls every generation to pursue justice, mercy, and righteousness. Rev. Elijah Mutua Kirima Social Worker THE WORD OF GOD IS THE WILL OF GOD