This archive report was first published on 21 December 2019.
As we celebrate the Nativity season, it's a time to reflect on the true meaning of childbirth and the significance of women in our lives. A central fact of our existence is that a child was born, and a child will be born, ensuring the continuity of our race.
Childbirth is inseparable from woman, and those who know me know how irresistible and attractive I find women. My heart leaps up when I behold a strong woman on the scene, and I believe that without woman, there would be no childbirth, no Nativity, no Noel, and no Christmas.
My thoughts this Christmas are focusing on women and children, particularly Anna Nduku, a 19-year-old girl from Ongata Rongai who tragically lost her life while trying to save a man from drowning in the Kandisi River. Her mother's words, 'She would have made a future leader or a future teacher,' sum up her daughter's snuffed-out potential.
Anna Nduku's heroic and tragic sacrifice concretizes the predicament of our children and grandchildren in the rapidly deteriorating global environment. Her story is a symbol of not only utter selflessness but also of the need to act courageously and decisively to save our planet and our humanity.
Behind Anna Nduku, I see the living icon of our young people's determination to change their world, especially their environment, for the better. Even as she was being laid to rest, 16-year-old Greta Thunberg was arriving in Madrid to deliver her and her generation's irrefutable message that the final chance to act radically on saving the planet is now or never.
I believe Anna Nduku deserves national recognition as a shujaa for her spontaneous response to a human cry for help, which challenges all of us to try and respond as best we can to a humanity and a planet in desperate need of salvation.
During these days of reflection on nativity, birth, and rebirth, the noble acts of young people, especially young women, like Greta Thunberg and the late Anna Nduku, should inspire us with hope, love, and generosity towards one another and our world.
