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Lessons from grandpa
Views:451 | By: Becky | Act: Visit Business
Lessons from grandpa
The traditional African outline that the grandfather's role was to pass down knowledge of the past to the children. They would tell stories of the past to teach the taboos and expectations of each member of the society. My grandfather had another role. He never sat as down and told as stories he gave as lessons.
Growing up I was a city kid. Raised in Nairobi, but spent a lot of time in the village. My grandfather had one rule, work in the city but exist in the village. He believed that his children had to repatriate to the village to remember their roots. It was not an easy task but each Saturday we would travel out to see him. It was always an adventure. My favorite times were the planting and harvesting season as well as Christmas. We would arrive at the village as early as possible and congregate with the rest. The whole town was a buzz. There would be lots of people, lorries of people waiting, you could feel the atmosphere of work and community. As we congregated we watched as the people split up into different roles. As if they all knew where they fit. The village worked as a team. Then they went and worked all including our parents. As for the children we harvested the mangos, made a market, and sold the products to my grandpa. He openly supported our entrepreneurial spirit and with our days' earnings, we bought the biggest samosa I had ever seen.
In all the adventures we had one thing I learned, the community existed as a whole. We all existed for each other. Each member of our society played a role in training the future generation on how to progress to adulthood. But it also taught me that we all answer to someone. It was especially fun to know that my father had an authority that gave him orders.
Yes as scary as our parents were, there was a man that he had to listen to and obey. That made the punishment all week even more appealing knowing that on Saturday he would have to be a child and we would be the bosses in a proxy. My greatest times with my grandfather were not only the benefits but learning that no matter how far we were the first line of defense we had was family. Through the good and the bad, he made sure that his children and grandchildren knew that he was present.
The value we place on wealth was always associated with his peeps. He taught me that no matter how hard things were, there were a whole lot of brighter days ahead but a lot of hands holding me up when I needed them. These were the lessons that my grandfather passed down to my father, my father to me, and me to my son.
Remember, Families are the compass that guides us. They are the inspiration to reach great heights, and our comfort when we occasionally falter" (Brad Henry).
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