Elijah does not struggle to write article s like this, they flow naturally out of experience and common knowledge.
The passing of time alone does not guarantee progress in social, economic, or material life.
A person may begin life as a teenager, become a youth, grow into a young adult, and eventually reach old age—yet remain trapped in the same poverty, unemployment, dependency, or lack of opportunity.
Increasing age is not necessarily increasing prosperity.
For many people in Africa, particularly those who began life in abject poverty, meaningful progress requires intentional and practical intervention.
People need opportunities to develop skills, access to capital to start productive activities, decent employment, business opportunities, mentorship, markets, and other forms of support that enable them to build sustainable livelihoods.
Without such opportunities, time can actually make difficult circumstances worse. As people grow older, responsibilities increase: food, housing, education, healthcare, family support and other basic needs become greater.
When income and productive opportunities do not increase alongside these responsibilities, a person's situation may deteriorate rather than improve.
Therefore, it is not enough to tell people, "Improve your life." We must also ask:
With what resources?
With which opportunities?
With what skills?
With what capital?
Where are the jobs?
Where are the markets?
What practical support is available?
Consider a simple illustration: If a person is locked in a room without a single dollar and had no dollar before entering, telling that person, "You cannot leave until you produce a dollar," does not solve the problem. They may remain there indefinitely unless someone gives them the dollar, gives them work through which they can earn it, or provides them with something they can sell to generate income.
This is also true of poverty. People cannot always produce what they have never been given the opportunity or capacity to produce.
If we genuinely want people to improve their lives, interventions must move beyond advice and encouragement to practical empowerment.
Skills must be connected to opportunities.
Capital must be connected to productive ventures.
Education must be connected to employment and enterprise.
Work must provide adequate income to meet basic needs and leave room for saving, investment and growth.
Development therefore requires more than telling people to work harder.
It requires creating conditions in which their work can actually produce progress.
People need not only motivation to rise; they need a ladder on which to climb.
Elijah Mutua Kirima.
Social Worker
THE WORD OF GOD IS THE WILL OF GOD.
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