von Sibylle und Christian
Verantwortung zu übernehmen und auch mitverantwortlich zu sein für das Wohl der Gesellschaft und den Wohlstand eines Landes wird nicht überall gleich verstanden. Dies erleben wir immer wieder in unserem Alltag hier in Nambia und speziell auch bei der Arbeit. Der folgende Leserbrief aus dem Namibian könnte auch jemand in einem europäischen Land geschrieben haben. Wenn man aber in Betracht zieht, dass Namibia erst seit 24 Jahren als unabhängiger Staat existiert, bekommt er eine besondere Bedeutung. Da geht es darum, dass noch immer geklärt werden muss, was staatliche Aufgaben sind und was nicht.
Es erstaunt uns immer wieder, dass wir auch von Oppositionsparteien nie hören, dass sie für ein Arbeitslosengeld kämpfen würden. Immerhin gelten fast 50 % der Namibier als arbeitslos. Dafür wollen die meisten Leute einen direkten Profit von Politikern und Beamten. So will die erweiterte Familie eines Beamten, z.B. einer Pflegefachfrau oder einer Schulleiterin an deren Lohn und Privilegien teilhaben. Die Krankenschwester muss dafür sorgen, dass ihre kranke Tante in der Warteschlange der Patienten im Notfall vorrücken kann. Das Fahrzeug der Regierung wird dann dafür genutzt den Sarg der verstorbenen Tante zum Friedhof zu transportieren und die Stühle aus dem Schulhaus werden an die Abdankung im Zelt her gekarrt. Diese Leute stehen oft unter grossem Druck allen Erwartungen gerecht zu werden und fühlen sich gegenüber solchen Wünschen ohnmächtig ausgeliefert.
Diese Haltungen stehen im Widerspruch zu einem effektiven Umgang mit staatlichen Gütern und Dienstleistungen und dem Nutzen der Arbeitszeit. Oft verschwinden Leute plötzlich von ihren Arbeitsstellen für ein paar Stunden und niemand weiss, wo sie sich aufhalten. Deutet man dann an, dass man Dinge für die verstorbene Tante organisieren muss, haben alle Verständnis und niemand fragt so richtig nach.
Letter of the Week ... Only You Owe
You
I HAVE noticed that we (as both
individuals and as a nation) have grown to feel entitled to things. We feel
that certain people or institutions owe us certain things for various reasons.
If they don’t provide us with what we feel they owe us, we become angry
or bitter and blame them for our failures.
We feel like our parents owe us, the government owes us, the past colonial powers owe us; everyone owes us! We feel like we deserve to be well clothed, comfortably housed, well educated and repaid for any form of suffering bestowed on us by anyone.
The truth is, in as much as many of these things are basic human needs, so many go without them every day. So many people make successes of their lives without ever having any of these things. Why? Because they realised at some point or another that in fact, no one owes them anything; only you owe you!
You owe it to yourself to make a success of your life. If you choose to blame your circumstances or those whom you feel “owed you” for not fulfilling your potential, you will wake up one day and realise how much time you wasted being bitter. You will realise too late that you could have done or become anything or anyone you wanted to be. Yes, maybe you didn’t have as many opportunities as others, maybe it was harder for you than others that had what you felt was owed to you but many who have become all that you wanted to become have done so with much less than what you had.
So, I implore, especially the youth, to stop expecting things to be done for you. Stop feeling like someone owes you something.
Rather, be determined, work hard and go out and get it on your own. Let the lack of whatever you feel you should have had, be the driving force behind your determination to have more. We value what we worked for more than what was simply given to us anyway. Do not allow yourself to draw comfort from mediocrity, do not settle and do not concede.
Embrace the fact that no matter what your circumstances, your future is determined only by you and your ability to understand that only you owe you.
Ndapewoshali Ashipala
Windhoek
We feel like our parents owe us, the government owes us, the past colonial powers owe us; everyone owes us! We feel like we deserve to be well clothed, comfortably housed, well educated and repaid for any form of suffering bestowed on us by anyone.
The truth is, in as much as many of these things are basic human needs, so many go without them every day. So many people make successes of their lives without ever having any of these things. Why? Because they realised at some point or another that in fact, no one owes them anything; only you owe you!
You owe it to yourself to make a success of your life. If you choose to blame your circumstances or those whom you feel “owed you” for not fulfilling your potential, you will wake up one day and realise how much time you wasted being bitter. You will realise too late that you could have done or become anything or anyone you wanted to be. Yes, maybe you didn’t have as many opportunities as others, maybe it was harder for you than others that had what you felt was owed to you but many who have become all that you wanted to become have done so with much less than what you had.
So, I implore, especially the youth, to stop expecting things to be done for you. Stop feeling like someone owes you something.
Rather, be determined, work hard and go out and get it on your own. Let the lack of whatever you feel you should have had, be the driving force behind your determination to have more. We value what we worked for more than what was simply given to us anyway. Do not allow yourself to draw comfort from mediocrity, do not settle and do not concede.
Embrace the fact that no matter what your circumstances, your future is determined only by you and your ability to understand that only you owe you.
Ndapewoshali Ashipala
Windhoek
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