Monday, January 22, 2007

Monuments of Great Men

We had a certain family(couple) member who stayed in Kenya, Nairobi for six months and who stayed for two months in Germany.

They talked about how Kenya was like, that it wasn't that HOT and sunny all the time after all. Although one part which is an 8 hour drive from Nairobi, near the coast would be sooo much like Cebu, the weather that is. They talked about all the things that are feared by most they have gone through all of it and of course they talked about they've had enough and would not be coming back to really stay there.

Poverty is pretty much evident in those parts. If you've seen poverty in the Philippines, boy you've never heard far more than that than in those places. You would begin to realise that "Hey, I'm blessed after all.. I can eat 3times a day and all that."

In every poverty-stricken country you can always pinpoint that the government is corrupt. Yup, pretty much more corrupt than our country.

What is saddening about the country is the way the people live. I'll give some examples about how poor their situation is.

  • they get to eat one heavy meal a day.

  • You'd see people lying on the grass by midafternoon. You would think they are sleeping which is in fact true but the reason for their sleeping is because they are HUNGRY. They believed that they would be FULL when they lie down and get the energy of the land.

  • Rice is a luxury. It costs 180-200 pesos half kilo.

  • Girls always skip class 2-3 days a month whenever their period strikes because they have no money to buy sanitary napkins

  • Most of them walk to work because they don't have enough money to ride the Matatu (their public transpo much like our jeepneys here)



Actually, there are still more saddening information but I'm not gonna dwell on them since my post is about Monuments of Great Men.

Anyway, they stayed in Kenya for 6 months. They got a visa for Germany, actually it was a visa wherein they could travel to different countries in EU except Britain and Switzerland I think. Anyhow, they were riding an Egyptian airline for Germany. The rate of the airline is actually half of the rates compared to Lufthansa and other airline companies.

Airline: "Our rates are pretty much good right? Well, only one downside of it. It's because you won't directly go to Germany we will be stopping for a night in Cairo. Sorry for the inconvenience."

But of course, we Pinoys would definitely love a sight-seeing and it was free sooo why not?

Couple: "Would we have Visa's for that ?"
Airline:"Of course we will take care of your visa and your hotel accomodation."
Couple:"Oh ok, that would be fine."

But deep inside... one would definitely get excited.

They got the tour to see the pyramids of Egypt and the Sphinx in Giza. With all it's glory, they were awestruck. It was really a great experience they say. They saw the Sphinx and behind the Sphinx was the pyramids. The Sphinx was created in monument of men, the egyptians. Before, the Egyptians were really on top. They created the Sphinx and it symbolizes strength and power.



Behind it are the Pyramids. It's supposed to guard the pyramids, that's what they say. It's face was meant to be in honor of an Egyptian Pharoah. It has a "missing nose" and it was believed that it was broken off by a cannon ball fired by one of Napoleon's soldier.

Anyway, when you gaze in front of the Sphinx you'd be awed specially by the view behind it, which are the Pyramids. But, have you ever wondered what the Sphinx is gazing at nowadays? -_-

I have to google for the picture. Haha.


image from TrekEarth.

There you go! With all it's splendour and glory the GREAT SPHINX faces it's opponent. A chicken! Of all the fast food chain in the world... why KFC(notice the red sign of KFC)? And of all the types of chicken whyyyy should it be the "FRIED" onesss? Could it have been much better if the chicken was alive?

God really has a humor. In fact God invented humor. The Ancient Egyptians were so proud of their accomplishments before. And now...... it faces it's opponent.

They also saw the Arc de Triomphe, Eiffel Tower, and the Mercedes Benz museum. Each different monument/memoirs of great men behind it.

It actually made them realise that great men can make a monument of what they have done in the past to show to the world in the future about what they accomplished but it's just PHYSICAL. What good would a monument be ? Sure, it has it's part of being amazing (like the pyramids which were created without the use of mortar and was done mathematically right.), sure it is a reminder, but then what? What good would it be to the next generation?

Men can make monuments of their accomplishment. And you can see that behind every monument there is a great man who HAD A DREAM. A great man who wanted sooo much and nurtured that DREAM and thus in the process made itself a monument as a reminder of what he has done.

A monument is a great reminder. But, what's best is to SHARE the DREAM to the NEXT GENERATION so that they to... will learn how to LIVE THEIR own DREAM. Not just SHOW but SHARE. Not just stones and rubbles but it should be alive and with a heart that could be passed on from generation to generation.


The marble keeps merely a cold and sad memory of a man who would else be forgotten. No man who needs a monument ever ought to have one.


Hey, I'm not putting down the monuments ok? It's just that we all need more than just a monument of a great person. -_-

23 comments:

Anonymous said...

Yes, we need more than a physical monument. We also need the other aspect - the monument that cannot be destroyed by any canons in the world made by man. We need the spiritual monuments.

On Kenya, it is a good point of reflection for us all. Of all the times we spend in the luxury places, the dimes we break for material gratifications, and as we sleep comfortably in our well-beloved cotton beds, we should be reminded that there are those people who break all legs and squish all sweats just to earn a grain of rice to eat. And thereby we learn the essence of sharing the blessings we enjoy.

This post is so meaningful.
dimaks | Homepage | 01.22.07 - 1:24 am |

tina said...

yup yup I so agree with you. -_-

And yeah Kenya is a place where you would feel blessed by just living in the Philippines.
tina | Homepage | 01.22.07 - 2:00 am |

Anonymous said...

shucking fit! ganon pala kahirap sa kenya.. omg.. tsk... answerte na pala natin dito!
tresebry | Homepage | 01.22.07 - 5:36 am | #


Living in the Philippines is far more better than Kenya...tsk tsk, nakakaawa sila.
nona | Homepage | 01.22.07 - 6:11 am | #



swerte pa rin tayo we eat 3 times a day kahit na di heavy meal at may meryenda pa
mousey | Homepage | 01.22.07 - 6:28 am |

Anonymous said...

given the picture in kenya that you have described, i just feel happy that i dont get to experience those things. though we share the same colonial past with them, i wonder when they will be able to achieve their "real" independence.. this independence from poverty.

sana pati tayo dito. we are better, but not much. all we can do is wish.

and, sana makapagtravel na rin ako internationally. hehehe. ang ganda ng pictures. balita lang, meron palang New 7 WOnders of the World. at ang pyramids of egypt, nominated na naman. hehehe. kung nagkataon, nasa Old at New na sila. ang daya. ung banaue rice terraces hindi kasama sa finalists ng New Wonders. nakakalungkot. hehehe.

exchange links?
rv | Homepage | 01.22.07 - 9:55 am |

Anonymous said...

mapalad pa rin pala tayo meron pang mas mahirap at mas currupt sa pilipinas, di naman sa natutuwa ako dahil may mga bansa pa na ganyan, akin lang meron pa rin pala tayo dapat ipagpasalamat ng kaunti pero dapat sana magbago kahit kaunti pa ang takbo ng kabuhayan dito sa pilipinas, hayyy, mangarap ba?
cruise | Homepage | 01.22.07 - 10:36 am

tina said...

Treserby: kakaawa-_- but some people are trying to help the rise up.

Nona: Yup. better.

Mousey: Yup.. veryy much blessed.

RV: They will one day if they choose too. They will. :p and sad di tayo nakapasok sa new wonders -_- di na kasi na maintain eh. *sigh* You can travel.. just dreamm... at mangyari yan. hehe ill add you up when i login in blogger.

Cruise: Yupyup. Mangarap tayo sa ikabubuti ng pinas. Ang dami kasi nagrereklamo about sa sitch natin dito. why dont we work on how to improve our country instead of complaining dbaA? :Pahihi
tina | Homepage | 01.22.07 - 10:55 am |

Anonymous said...

yea. i so agree. we need more than a monument..we need something more than that..

hmm.

dito, poverty isn't really visible, kase it seems like pantay pantay sila when it comes to things. pero syempre, not all can watch the football games in the first rows, but still, millions of people watch it.

the Kenya issue, or shall I say, the Africa (which is really near Italy) lagi topic dito ng mga taong idealistic. ang dami volunteers dito para pumunta sa Africa at mamigay ng mga tulong. In fact, ang dami sa mga Italian (some are philanthropists) ang nagdodonate talaga.

kaya ayun, naisip ko din ung sinabi mo.. swerte pa ang mga tao sa Pilipinas, hindi nagsasusuffer ng malnutrition at kung anu ano pang skit like AIDS for that matter.

At we needn't drink cow's pee.

Sad no?

Nakita ko un sa picture na sinend sken ng tita ko by e-mail.

Grabe. It once haunt my dreams for being extravagant. I learned my lesson.
arianne | Homepage | 01.22.07 - 4:44 pm |

Anonymous said...

nice post. i just cant imagine here in italy how they throw bread and other kinds of foods which they didnt know that there are lots of people hu r getting hungry and not eating like we used too. damn, so frustrating and so sad.

italians love to visit phils, they really love to go in the phils. they r jealous about our weather and temperature and other things they heard about us on how beautiful it is.. phils is rich.. yun nga lang corrupt ang mga tao. kaya di tyo makaangat.

nice posts tina. take care. mwah
ychel | Homepage | 01.22.07 - 5:01 pm |

tina said...

Arianne: At least there are some people who helped. That's a relief. Madami naman actually ang tumutulong sa kanila.. kasoo nga lang hayy di lahat natutulongan...

Ychel: Yup. Agree ako dyan. Philippines is rich. So is Kenya... it has the perfect/nice weather they say.. its the government and the mindset of the people too.

ty sa creative responses nyo.
tina | Homepage | 01.22.07 - 7:07 pm |

Anonymous said...

Gravatar Here in Japan, in practice, I like how they give importance to livelihood. I mean, it is considered unethical and no-no to leave food on your plate/bowl uneaten. Every time i take a glance on the plate/bowl of a Japanese after eating, I hardly see a grain of rice left.
dimaks | Homepage | 01.22.07 - 8:08 pm | #

Anonymous said...

Interesting journey.
It is sad that there is still so much poverty in our world.
Sidney | Homepage | 01.22.07 - 10:02 pm | #

Gravatar Kenya in Africa! NICE LOVE IT!
ang-ang | Homepage | 01.23.07 - 12:11 am | #

Gravatar Naisip ko lang. Did God forsaken Kenya?
tin | Homepage | 01.23.07 - 2:05 am | #

Gravatar Naisip ko lang. Did God forsaken Kenya, to let those things happen to them?
tin | Homepage | 01.23.07 - 2:05 am |

tina said...

tin: of course not just stating the reality... we all know the truth :P
tina | Homepage | 01.23.07 - 5:14 am |

Anonymous said...

yes. one prevalent problem that we can see not only in this country but in other countries is a lack of vision.

anyway... getting wanderlust from your post.
Donya Quixote | Homepage | 01.23.07 - 6:52 am

Anonymous said...

I learned from one of my classes(Geog1 I think..) that one of the worst cases of poverty is really in Africa. We are blessed after all..
joy | Homepage | 01.23.07 - 8:28 am |

Anonymous said...

hay naku about kenya ha....d post reminded me again of my pagkamareklamo kay god...hahay....yea i guess im lucky....

and wow egypt and d great sphinx...the sphinx is one of my favorite mythological creatures....aside from nagas and kitsunis....how do u make sphinx into plural???...hmmmm neweiz dey r so lucky to see d famed pyramids of egypt....
bluedemon | Homepage | 01.23.07 - 12:52 pm |

Anonymous said...

reading what you've written about Kenya, i realized i really have so much to be grateful for.
bea | Homepage | 01.23.07 - 7:57 pm | #

Gravatar love it keep updating
Ang-ang | Homepage | 01.23.07 - 9:46 pm |

Anonymous said...

I swear, Tina, I'll never be gonna late again with your posts! Promise!

Nakakatuwa itong post mo. I was just talking to a friend who's going to be assigned in South Africa and I told her na "naku naman, don't go if Nairobi yan!". Tapos I got to read this post...

You would really pity these people. I remember an episode of Oprah wherein she visited Africa and was moved by everything that she saw. Alam mo ba yung pinuntahan niya run, kapag naiwan yung mga girls ng parents nila, nire-rape ng neighbor! And they can't even afford slippers! Kaya nga Oprah gave away slippers din. Tapos she raised enough funds to send everyone to school and yung mga orphans na, she sent to an institution. Sobrang nakakaawa. Very similar to Nairobi.

Hay, tayong mga Pinoy kunwari ayaw ng abala pero kung libre naman ang accomodations and all, natutuwa deep inside! Hahaha... Swerte ha! I wanna see those pyramids and The Parthenon and everything there is too see! Hay... kelangan ko na yata ng bagong tsinelas! Hahaha

^_^
sasha | Homepage | 01.23.07 - 10:13 pm |

Anonymous said...

ang ganda talaga ng sphinx ano?its really a wonder!

pero naging mas interesado ako sa kenya...poverty...tsk tsk tsk..nakakaawa na nga yung mga bata,pero di pa rin sila nag kucontrol sa paggawa ng bata ...
ghee | Homepage | 01.23.07 - 10:55 pm |

Anonymous said...

pangarap ko ring makapasyal sa mga bansang exotic tulad ng kenya or anywhere in africa. actually sabi nila marami raw interesting na pwedeng bisitahin sa mga bansa na yan, yung poverty naman minsan sa remote area lang tulad dito sa pinas, kung pupunta sila sa payatas, malamang di nila ma e enjoy yung bisita nila sa atin, pero kung punta sila let say sa tagaytay, bagyo or subic baka di nila isipin na kasama tayo sa 3rd world country.
iskoo | Homepage | 01.23.07 - 11:24 pm |

Anonymous said...

Hi Tina, wow, the life of the poor in Kenya sounds very harsh, I guess it makes us appreciate what we have? That was a lucky stop over for them though! great adventure I think that the best monument a man can leave behind is his children and his children's children etc. Cheers
Angelo | Homepage | 01.24.07 - 12:07 am | #

Gravatar Haaay. Ganyan talaga..

Di ko rin alam kung bat marami ang gustong magpapayat at ayaw kumain. Samanatalang yung iba namumrublema kung san sila kukuha ng pagkain..
Pot | Homepage | 01.24.07 - 12:20 am |

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