Someone once asked me if I would be able to record my experiences and those of other youth on life after disengagement from SOS aka "maisha inje ya gate". I just smiled and did not answer. The reason being, how do we evaluate only one aspect of life when the past affects the present. To describe my experiences, I will have to go back to my past which may bring controversy. My view may be biased, or true and may affect other people who may have played different roles in my past life. My main fear of facing the past is that a lot of forgiving may have taken place but, the struggle to forget is still there. Another fear is that society's expectation is that we keep the ugly past buried and only speak of the good times.
How does one turn of society's tendency of to judge actions that may have been forgiven? And in so doing prevent the ability to purge the bad memories by speaking up? Many of us have turned judgmental in the past and taken sides when others have tried to document their past. I pray that this will change in future and speaking up will not be viewed as rebelling but as a process of improvement and hopefully reconciliation. For the ones with vested interest, not all apples in the basket are bad yet. We just hope that by removing the bad ones, the rest may be saved. So keep up your support, because for every tyrant in the community, an angel exists.
So for now, these experiences will remain undocumented, not because they have been forgotten, but because sometimes leaving no stones unturned may just result in confrontation with snakes. I will have you know that I am still looking for some snake repellent. I will document the experiences once I accomplish this mission.
