From the Archive

On ma band ogawana zida

This is going out to my fellow youths, who in one way or the other have been affected with this syndrome that is going around, paralyzing our society.

I happen to have been observing the trends in the relationship statuses( not on FB of course) of my friends and al the other people I know and I have noticed one thing since mid December; there have been a lot of break ups than I have known in any other part of my life. If you are in doubt, I am just advising you to check how many of the people you know have had breakups in their relationships since December. You will surely be amazed.

What has prompted me to write this note, however is the gravity of the statistics I hold. I will be lying if I say I have been calculating, but I can guarantee you that from the week begining on the 26th of December, I have been receiving news of a friend's breakup, at least once every week.

Most of the times we soften the situation by just saying the infamous phrase, "Band ija yagawanapo zida" and things end up like that, with one player of the game living on normally as if nothing has happened, while the other is left with the scars of heartbreak.

I for one, have chosen to attribute all this to illconcieved relationships(its my opinion, take it or not). So many youths nowadays are falling into relationships before they really know what they are all about and this is leading us into many problems as a society. The most serious thing about this is that most of us, the youth do not know, and if at all we know choose to overlook the real purpose of relationships and their essence, no wonder many of us fall into and get out of relationships as frequently as 2 or 3 times a year and live on as if nothing has happened.

Some questions pertaining to this "socio-ethical" decay arise in my mind:

-Is this the standard of life we, as the youth are supposed to have?

-Do we, as the youth of today know what it takes or requires to be in relationships?

-Is what we do on a daily basis in our relationships life a reflection of our religious beliefs? If not, why?

-What do we need to do to improve on the current situation?

I know some of you guys might have the answers to these questions. Before I open the floor for you to bring them on, I just want to remind you of one thing. We were created in God's image and we, at all costs have to live with Him in mind, knowing that He gave us His own life for us to live, for the better of the world. We have to live, therefore, knowing that even the relationships we get into shold be there for the better of the world.

As many of you here are Christians, I would also liike you to consider what the Bible and the teaching of Christianity says about the whole subject of relationships, and how relationships can be handled sustainably.

Thank you for the time you spent reading this.

God Bless.

Some of the members of the Richie Online community may remember this note. I posted this in 2012, having been fed up by the whole thing of being the heater of bad news and all.

Five years down the line, I find this text more relatable than ever as the delicacy of the things we call relationships continues to increase exponentially (from observation and experience). We have a lot of people who have given up on the concept of true love and others have gone on to say That things like marriage and love are an illusion.

We have people on extreme ends when it comes to ideas surrounding love and relationships. While some think that we still have something to get from modern day love relationships, some think that they are pointless and not worth the trouble. Without taking a side, I would say that I can relate with both sides of the same coin. The question I remain with is that of whether there is a single formula when it comes to sustaining a good relationship given the various observations I have made. I don't have answers. Some probably do. Maybe we could refer to the lessons from the man from Ulumba (I hope you read that article) but those have been proven to have some design flaws too.

At the end of the day, the issue of relationships leaves the young mind with more questions than answers. Not even the all wise Richie of Richie Online can give you the answers on this one. All he can tell you is that you need to be sure of what you want and what you are doing when venturing into a relationship. While you are in there, make it the best while it lasts and enjoy every moment of it. A little mentorship doesn't hate on this one and... Well. It might just last, so treat each other with respect.

That is one piece from my Facebook archive. Written 5 years ago, yet more relatable today.

PS.

Sorry for the delay in the article.

ESCOM people gave power back while I was already asleep and when I woke up duty called my Gulupu (Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital).

Napepe. Won't happen again. Definitely. Maybe.