Certificates of Doom: Read It

The African continent faces numerous challenges. It is evident in the high level of human trafficking, poverty, wars, and xenophobic attacks. News channels are filled with painful narratives of how thousands of Africans risk their lives to cross the Mediterranean to Europe on rickety boats and ships that often capsize and drown. They pass through unsafe Libya, a country ravaged by a war that should not have occurred in the first place. The story of the African man remains sad and painful, despite several years of independence and self-governance. There is no better place to get a full view of such a story than the novel Certificates of Doom by David Onjala. 

 Certificates of Doom traces the hopeless life of a young African man named Kepha. Kepha works at Aviation, a middle-level college, as a tutor. The work environment of the college is exploitative and autocratic. Employees work several hours, yet the pay is less than that of unskilled workers. 

 Additionally, the college is run by quacks who hire ineligible tutors. Things get worse when the college gets embroiled in a scandal known as "Certificates of Doom." Investigators discover that Aviation's tutors sell exams to students and take bribes to manipulate their grades. The unfolding of these malpractices makes students leave Aviation in droves. Work conditions become worse for Kepha and his colleagues since the scandal worsens the college's financial situation. 

 Kepha and most colleagues must stay in Aviation despite the unbearable employment conditions. Job opportunities are scarce out there. 

 Later, Kepha resigns due to the failure of Aviation’s administration to take action against a colleague who disrespects him. Life gets more challenging as Kepha fails to find another job, and his writing work does not pay well. 

 Beside Aviation, Kepha has a challenging matrimonial life. Even though he is married, he does not want to have children. Kepha feels that his poor living conditions and this doomed country do not warrant bringing another life into this world. Later, traditions make him bow to the social demand of a child after marriage.

 Kepha has a strained relationship with his wife, Selina. Unfortunately, this is the same situation that all married men in his circle face. His elder brother’s wife left because he was unemployed. Since then, Micah is not in a hurry to get married again. His younger brother, Michael, who is also unemployed, holds no dream of ever marrying.

 Certificates of Doom support Marvin Harris’ theory of cultural materialism by showing how the African culture changes due to poor economic conditions. Kepha does not want a child, yet having a child after marriage is customary. The novel also challenges feminism, informing it that it is time it turned its focus on women since they also need a significant change in their perception of gender. Women are failing to rise to fill the traditional roles of men.  

Please read it. You will love it.

Hope Springs: So Watchable

 

Recently, I was having a conversation with a friend about her marriage. She told me she had been married for 20 years but wanted out. I tried to talk her back into her marriage, but she seemed adamant. It was hard to fathom that a marriage that had lasted for 20 years could experience great turmoil and get to the brink of collapse. 

Then I came across this 2012 movie titled "Hope Springs." The film is about a couple, Arnold and Kay Soames. They have been married for 37 years and are now on the brink of collapse. 

 The thing that glues me to the movie is that this couple has been married for 37 years, yet their marriage still faces turmoil, just like newlyweds in their second year. If my friend's 20 years of marriage felt like forever, what about 37 years?

 Plot 

Kay and Arnold are two nesters. Since their youngest child went to college, they have slept in separate rooms. It is over five years since they last made love. Kay is unhappy primarily with this setup, while Arnold feels it is okay. Kay takes her savings and pays for a trip to Maine, where she and Arnold are to attend an intense marriage counseling therapy for a week.

 At the start of the therapy, Arnold does not want to attend the sessions. However, as time passes, he gets stuck in it. The therapy makes significant improvements in their intimate lives. They end up saving their marriage and remarrying. There are vital lessons to learn from this movie. 

Importance of Intimacy in Marriage

During my years of study in a health-related course at the university, I learned that sex was one of the basic needs of humans as adults. A few years into marriage, my father advised me of the importance of sex in keeping a marriage. Now, Hope Springs adds significant weight to this observation. Observing this couple, Arnold and Kay, older adults, probably in their fifties or sixties, and seeing how Kay talks about her desire to have Arnold touch her in one of their early therapy sessions is very moving. One wonders how at such advanced ages, people still desire sex. They do, and the lack of it threatens marriages.

This film reveals that sex is essential not just because it fulfills a person's sexual desire but also shows that one admires and is still attracted to their partner. That feeling of attraction and admiration is what brings couples together and keeps them together. This feeling is mainly expressed through sex. For example, when the therapist, Dr. Feld, asks Arnold if he is still attracted to Kay, Arnold says he is. However, later, when the couple tries to make love in front of the fireplace in a luxury inn, Arnold is not aroused enough to go through with it. Kate realizes that Arnold lied to the therapist. She is no longer attractive to him. She decides to leave to pet-sit for a fellow employee. 

Fortunately, the night before she leaves, Arnold makes passionate love to her. That act saves their marriage. They resume a happy and fulfilling intimate relationship that leads them to remarry. 

Men and Women in Relationships

People may say that the movie advances stereotypes about men and women in relationships, but that is the reality of how most men and women are in relationships. Like most men, Arnold is a closed person in this relationship, while Kay is open, like most women. Arnold is okay with the present setup of the marriage. He does not understand why Kay feels a problem with their marriage. He thinks Kay is exaggerating their situation. It is like Kay is petty to him. This attitude later makes Kay tell him that he is a bully.

Arnold goes on a trip to Maine to please his wife and not to solve anything. During therapy sessions, he is unwilling to open up. One notices that Arnold only responds to questions after Kay does. There is a time when he even tells Dr. Feld that he cannot discuss his sex life with a stranger. His unwillingness and inability to talk about issues Kay deems crucial make him appear uncaring and disrespectful towards his wife. There are times when Kay cries because of this. 

On the other hand, Kay is open and willing to talk about anything concerning their relationship. She answers Dr. Feld's questions with ease. After storming out of a session when she feels suffocated by Arnold's bullish attitude, Kay goes to a bar where she informs the bar attendant that she has not had sex for long. One notices how Kay is open to discussing her relationship issues with anyone. She is seeking help anywhere she can get. 

Importance of Third Parties in Marriages 

Most importantly, HopeSprings elaborates on the importance of visiting counselors to help solve relationship problems. This movie shows how couples find it hard to discuss vital issues in marriages that can only be eased with third parties. For example, rarely do people talk about sex and sexual fantasies. In the film, we see Dr. Feld filling this gap in communication by taking this couple through a discussion of sex life and sexual fantasies. We learn that Arnold has had some essential fantasies that he wished Kay would help him achieve. If he were to tell Kay about these fantasies earlier, probably their relationship would have been different and better. Dr. Feld is crucial in helping this older couple solve their marriage problems. He gets them talking about what they love and hate about each other. Dr. Feld helps them pull closer to each other. He helps them save their marriage.

Conclusion

This movie is a perfect illustration of the problems couples face. It shows how men, at times, are usually distant and okay with unfulfilling relationships. It encourages women to pull men closer and not give up on seeking solutions to their unpleasant relationships, as Kay did. It also informs men not to trivialize their partners' issues, as Arnold did to Kay. It encourages them to spare time and discuss every item their partners present. It encourages men to be open and not have a fixed mindset about issues. Couples should save time and watch Hope Springs. I am recommending this movie to my friend I mentioned earlier.

"Xenophobia" in "South Africa", Really?

Mahatma Gandhi once said that the only language the poor people understand is bread and butter. He was right with this observation. Poverty limits people’s thinking and endurance and makes them susceptible to manipulation and misguidance. That is why the African continent remains colonized even today. We are peasants. Imperialists know this fact and use it to make us eat our people. They know that the only language we understand is bread and butter.
A few years ago, colonialists conquered our lands and stirred divisions among us. They separated relatives and friends. They created boundaries in a continent that people traversed with ease. That's why a Luo in Kenya calls himself a Kenyan while a Luo in Uganda calls himself a Ugandan. A Tutsi in Burundi calls himself Burundian, while a Tutsi in Rwanda calls himself Rwandese. There are Zulus and other similar tribes spread across southern Africa, yet they call themselves South Africans, Zambians, Zimbabweans, Malawians and much more. Unfortunately, the poor African man has “proudly” assumed the identity given to him by the white man. It makes him reject and even kill a fellow brother because he is poor.
A few years back, there were tribal clashes in Kenya after the elections. I remember having a conversation with a “Ugandan” friend. I told her that I was not Kenyan. All I know is that I am a Luo. She seemed surprised by that claim. She did understand what I was telling her by the end of our conversation. It was as simple as this, the nations we are “proud” to relate to are creations of the white men during their scramble and partition of Africa. We only owe our affiliations and loyalties to our tribes.
The Luo people spread throughout Ethiopia, Sudan, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, and Congo. Why did colonialists see it fit to divide this group into different countries? Divide and rule it is. A concept that the African man fails to grasp even today because of poverty.
Look at how the people of Hong Kong are embarrassing China. See how "South Africans" upset Africa—an African calling a fellow brother an alien. Poverty is the cause of all this madness. It has blinded them so they cannot see they are related to the Africans they chase away or kill. It would be understandable If a Kikuyu called a Kisii an alien (even though I do not support it). There are deep and credible foundations for being a Kikuyu or a Kisii. However, a South African driving a Nigerian out of the country is utterly incomprehensible. What is the foundation for the terms South African, Kenyan, Nigerian, Congolese, or Rwandese, besides the Berlin conference, identities that Africans proudly assume, yet they are not free in their so-called nations? Colonialists hold South Africa captive and drive "South Africans" to the edges of poverty, which makes them see true brothers as aliens.

Poverty is a dangerous thing. It has made "South Africans" lose hope of reclaiming their ancestral lands. Now, they have enmity with their brothers, who move to their "country" to fend for themselves. Colonialists left “South Africans” neither land to cultivate nor food to eat. When fellow Africans move next door and succeed in making ends meet in their oppressed "county," “South Africans” see them as the enemy.
Colonialists have even coined the term “alien” for “South Africans” when referring to fellow brothers. The imperial media call these heinous crimes against brothers “xenophobic attacks.”
The term “xenophobia” makes these atrocities appear light and almost insignificant. It drives further division among Africans by suggesting that a “South African” differs from a “Nigerian.” “Xenophobia” lightens this crime to a nearly normal and acceptable event. It makes these crimes appear like “South Africans” are fighting foreign invaders.
I wish “South Africans” could see and understand how brothers stood solidly with them during the apartheid. They would not dare lift a finger against a brother. But who can blame them for their myopia? Centuries of colonialism, apartheid, and imperialism can turn any sharp eye blind using poverty. Let's pray that they see.