Whose Kinsmen are by the Road Side?

Anytime we travel or walk through the streets to our workplace or the market, we see children, young men and women, old men and women, able and disabled, plying their future on the street.

For some of them, the road side has become their permanent place of abode and they have no future beyond the street. Also, that is where they have their bath, eat and drink, and take life decisions. And to quote what Jesus said about the people of the then world to explain the condition of these people, I would say, “they are like sheep without a shepherd.”

And so I ask, who are the kinsmen of these people? Are they our own flesh and blood? Do they hail from our country-side? Yes, we all have the answers. They are our own kinsmen; in fact, they are our flesh and blood; they hail from our country-side, and they are people we refer to as our brothers and sisters in our closets but deny in public.

They are our friends, neighbours, school mates and people we refer to as brothers and sisters in the Lord. Some are also relatives of the politicians, the journalists, the big men and women who occupy privileged positions in the society and the man of God who lives behind our house.

In every part of the world, children are trained at home. And so why are our kinsmen receiving training by the road side and we seem to look unconcerned? Why are they learning values that should guide them by the road side? Is what they are learning in tandem with our values and beliefs as a society?

Will these values give hope to the future of our society? Certainly not! In our part of the world, food, whether small, plenty, delicious or not, is served, shared and eaten at home.

Why are our kinsmen eating by the road side and we look unconcerned? In our part of the world, kinsmen and neighbours receive support when they are in need. Why are they not receiving support now? Why do kinsmen and neighbours seem unkind to their own? Why would society go for their own only when they hear them dead?

Many reasons could account for why society seems to care less about the vulnerable children and women who seek answers to their future by the road side. No matter the quality of the explanations given, no society is justified by looking unconcerned regarding the suffering of its weaklings.

It is a truism that life does not treat us equally. Life is sometimes compared to our five fingers; they are of different shapes, sizes and heights. In effect, we all experience life in diverse ways. However, like the five fingers work together, we will all get fulfilled when we work together and support one another.

As a society and as a nation, life will not be in peace and in full when part of us feel isolated or isolated and uncared for. Our joy will not be complete when our conscience tells us we have been unkind to our own flesh. Even if we feign we are unaware of these conditions, there is still a silent voice that judges us guilty.

There are several reasons that account for why our kinsmen and neighbours ply their future by the road side. Poverty is always the chief reason. However, there are other factors such us broken homes, weak family systems, lack of jobs and disease. Able men and women are found engaging in all manner of ill-activities that are detrimental to society on the account of poverty.

The disabled, on the other hand, are found begging for money by the road side because of family neglect. Children who should be in school are found by the road side because of either a broken home or lack of parental control. Same children are used by the disabled persons to beg money for by the road side.

Parents who do not get enough time for their kids lose their kids to their kids’ friends who also live by the road side. So there are endless reasons why the less privileged would lose their homes, settle by the road side and live at the mercy of the weather.

Notwithstanding all the reasons which are deemed to be responsible for why our kinsmen and neighbours live on the street, we can’t gloss our eyes over the negative repercussion this practice continues to pose to the survival of our future and generations unborn. The more women who do not have meaningful job and education continue to ply their future by the road side, the more the future of our people becomes unsafe.

This is because women are deemed to be the repository of the values and training that have to be handed down to our children. Our part of the world is where the men are largely seen as the bread winners. The woman is largely confined to the position of building a home.

What then becomes of the security and safety of children whose mothers ply their future by the road side? What values would such mothers entrust to such future leaders? What kind of love would they show to such children? Your answer is as good as mine.

In addition to the above problem is the tendency of children to develop unhealthy lifestyles that are detrimental to society. In fact, countless cases of child labour, child prostitution, teenage pregnancy, school drop-outs, child molestation, armed robbery cases, etc are attributed to lack of proper care by parents and guardians of these children.

We cannot isolate this lack of proper care from poverty and its related effects. However, all these people belong to a society that must show them love and care.

Again, our unconcerned attitude as a society towards people who might genuinely be in need has led to a situation where people who should be engaging in positive work join those on the street and engage in all manner of acts that are inimical to society.

Sometimes it is even difficult to identify people who are genuinely disabled and need our support. It’s therefore a high time society cared for its own. If we look on unconcerned and let this practice fester, our homes and the road sides will not be a safe place for us.

In as much as we wait for government to provide safety nets to cater to the needs of this part of ours, there is the need for us to begin the fight in saving our kinsmen first. After all they are our flesh and thus our responsibility first before they become the responsibility of government.

We need to show them love and care. Our efforts in salvaging their future could be found in two folds: directly and indirectly. With regard to helping them directly, there are those that we can support their education. There are also those that we can enroll in institutions that can offer them employable skills.

There are also those that we can take out of the street by giving them a start-up capital. These measures may seem herculean but it shouldn’t become difficult for a strong and a well-structured family system.

It would be extremely difficult if it is left with a few people in the family. There is strength in unity.

The church is also one of the avenues that such people can be helped. The church must be doing more for its members than it is doing now. It shouldn’t be seen to care only when a member is dead but should ensure that at all times it’s in touch with its members and aware of how they are faring.

Indirectly, we would all be safeguarding the future of our kinsmen who ply their future by the road side when we all work hard and with dedication to help grow the economy. This will create enough space in the economy to cater to needs of a greater number of people.

We must all be aware that any detrimental decision that we take as a people who have been entrusted with responsibilities in government and in private institution goes a long way to affect the long stay of these people by the road side. Our hard work and dedication to the service of our country will determine our love and care for our kinsmen.

Our kinsmen and neighbours are by the roadside. They are like flocks without a shepherd. They cry for support and love every day while we sit in our cars and troskies. However, we pass by them helplessly and sometimes we behave as if we are unconcerned about their plights.

Perhaps we may be thankful to God that we are not the ones there. But let’s remember that it could have been any of us. We can’t be deemed to be successful and complete when our kinsmen are by the road side.

We can’t have peace when parts of our society are in pieces. Let it not be said by our kinsmen and our neighbours that we have been unkind to them. Let’s offer them our support for we are all brethren.

By: Daniel Ofosu-Asamoah

The writer is a communicator, researcher, speaker, and a teacher.

You can reach him via [email protected]