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BLOG SPECIAL: Women of Kenya PART 2: Must-have skills to teach our kids

Hi, 

This is 2nd part of the Blog SPECIAL: Women of Kenya.

You can read Part 1 HERE. In that 1st part, I introduced 12 wonderful women and moms living in Masogo, near Kisumu in Kenya. 

First Part of the Blog SPECIAL dealt about the question “Are you proud to be a woman? and why?”

In this PART 2, I have asked those wonderful women a 2nd question that is: “What are the 5 skills you wish to ensure your kids have for their future?”

…and here are their answers:

  • Elizabeth Akinyi said:
    1. They must be respectful in the community and wherever they are.
    2. They must love school/learning.
    3. They must be united as my kids.
    4. Once educated they must come back and assist the community.
    5. Girls must respect their in-laws.

 

  • Golda Sawala Ayodo said:
    1. To recognize and appreciate the privileges they have in life.
    2. To give back selflessly to the community.
    3. To work hard and earn a living in life honestly.
    4. To always be honest and have integrity in life.
    5. To be humble and respectful to everyone in the community.

 

  • Goretty Atieno Wasira replied:
    1. To be God fearing while living within the community.
    2. To be educated.
    3. To learn agriculture.
    4. To respect people and live in harmony  with others within the community.
    5. Work hard in school to enable them have better lives in future.

 

  • Helida Odeny answered:
    1. God fearing.
    2. Respect their elders and peers.
    3. Must work hard for whatever they wish to have in future.
    4. They must take care of me as their mother.
    5. Must give back to society.

 

  • Jackline Awino Adongo said:
    1. Respect the elders, and everyone else.
    2. They must love going to church.
    3. They must learn to answer people politely when asked a question.
    4. Daughters must not keep hanging around with boys, must maintain their honour.
    5. Must be humble.

 

  • Magdalene Akinyi Odhiambo replied:
    1. The fear of God as it is the beginning of wisdom.
    2. Work hard and go through school to make their life easier in future.
    3. Agricultural skills to make them self-reliant.
    4. Cleanliness  both at home and in their life.
    5. Love what they do and be hard working in life.

 

  • Mary  Akinyi Odero said:

    1. Respect everyone.
    2. To learn to work hard to earn a living.
    3. Don’t be someone who walks around here and there aimlessly without purpose
    4. My daughters to learn how to do dishes, wash clothes and do house chores, for my sons to care for cattle, not to walk around aimlessly as there is Corona.  They must not be away from home when darkness falls.

 

  • Mary Anyango replied:
    1. Be role models in the community.
    2. Work hard in school so that they have a good future.
    3. To be better adults than some that I have seen.
    4.  I have educated them.
    5. To be respectful in the community.

 

  • Milka Atieno Modi said:
    1. God Fearing.
    2. Respect me, themselves and others in the community.
    3. To be honest.
    4. Education.
    5. To learn from other peoples experiences

 

  • Miriam Nyandigo Sire said:
    1. Respect everyone.
    2. Work hard using their hands to be self-independent.
    3. They also educate their kids as I have educated them
    4. To learn to work hard in life to gain what they need and not to depend on others.
    5. God fearing and they must learn to love their spouses.

 

  • Sophy Akoth Otieno answered:
    1. God fearing
    2. To be humble in life.
    3. Be role models to others.
    4. Put a lot of effort in education.
    5. To be respectful to elders in the society.

 

  • Susan Awuor Juma said finally:
    1. Educated them
    2. Respect everyone
    3. Have focus in life.
    4. Choose friends wisely
    5. Agriculture to make them sustain themselves.

Wow, such an important question, so many important answers…Before I try myself to answer to this question, I wish to give a deeper thinking to those replies. I find this amazing as I, for sure can relate to some but I also would never have thought to mention few others.  Part of the differences are probably cultural and some of the similarities are probably universal to parents!

Let’s take a look at few of the skills those 12 women mentioned repetitively:

  • Respect

I wrote about this crucial skill HERE and provided my personal recommendations to games and gifts that teach respect.  I honestly believe this is something we need to teach them, discuss at home and practice. Respect can be towards people around us, elders, ourselves, siblings…I always use games to teach anything as I believe learning through play is felt and deeper!

  • Belonging to a community as well as give back to it:

This is a very major thing in many  areas  of the world but I believe not as present in many other parts of the world. Many times “minorities” would find themselves in community like Mexican in LA, or as I felt myself Jewish community in LA or in Nice, or French community in Israel, but I think the community I met in Masogo, Kenya last year is one of a kind, where each gives and receives and where each feels the importance of it, while that has nothing to do with minorities. and this is the beauty of it! I believe during the Covid 19, we all understood how we affect each other in every movement or  action we do. This reminds me of a post I wrote about Cooperative Play  as well as purchase gifts and give back for a good cause. I hope you enjoy those articles.

  • United siblings:

I wrote here on relationships among siblings and how to improve sibling bonding through fun. You can read here this article. 

  • Hard work:

I relate this to perseverance, never give up, which is for sure a crucial skill, especially for independent people. 

  • Self-reliance: 

I think this is amazing to mention this as a main value to teach our kids. I am not sure people in the “modernized countries” like me would think of teaching them agriculture for example just to be self-reliant. Being self-reliant gives us a certain degree of independence. I wrote about independent play, to learn to be alone, enjoy time alone that is related to this in a way. I totally agree this might help a lot, especially in crises!

  • Focus

When we focus on a goal, we are fully determined towards it. Knowing to focus our energy and time towards something helps that thing to come and happen.

  • Honesty and Humility

This is in my list to write about because I definitely relate to this, especially today with the social medias and so much of sharing everything to the world!

  • God Fearing:

I will have to write about this:) just added to my list…thank you ladies!  It does not matter if you believe in God, destiny, energy…this is something that drives lots of us and helps many of us, and therefore deserves its own article!

The answers above helped me define my own 5 skills i would choose to teach my kids, and here is how this blog is not only about giving advice to parents around the world, but also understanding better through writing and listening, my own parenting, and define it better. This is where giving and receiving work together!

 

My 5 skills are:

  1. Perseverance because whatever we want or dream for, usually do not come easy but never to give up, try again and again until you get there!
  2. Tolerance to others and to yourself. Accept other opinions, other weaknesses, your own weaknesses.
  3. Connection to your inner-self, your dreams, your wish, your personality, your preferences. Once you know yourself and are, stay connected to yourself, it is easier to reach your goals. 
  4. Humility, defined as “freedom from pride or arrogance”.
  5. Faith: understand you are not alone in this world, in good and bad times, and you are not in control of everything. Something much bigger sometimes arranges it all for you, so learn o accept it.

 

THANK YOU LADIES FROM MASOGO…

BY LISTENING TO YOU, I LEARNED AND DEFINED MYSELF EVEN BETTER!

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This Post Has 2 Comments

  1. Ben obera 20 Jul 2020 Reply

    It’s amazing how you could find the connectivity and universality of certain values across the cultures. Thank you Karen

  2. Sandy H 24 Jul 2020 Reply

    How beautiful to see them all emphasize giving back to the community as a priority for their children. Great to read and provided tons of insight!

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