Where reason is needed, let it be availed to those who seem to have unpalatable justification as to why they cannot attend Gotabgaa. Excuse a child -they say, for fearing the darkness, the real tragedy is when men of age fear light. GOTABGAA is and has been the only formal institution organized by Kales in Diaspora with a voice and a crystal clear agenda : social and cultural understanding of ‘self’ in a world where identity is melting. Idleness has never been the agenda neither has economic exploitation been part of the institution , these are reasons given by absentees to avert the mission and retract us into ‘individualistic persons’, easily preyed upon by the bills. The organization has had a few incidences of political acolytes trying to use the organization as a rubber stamp to further their ‘career in politics’. Such occurrences were noted in previous conferences and were air dried and put to their place.
This year’s conference was one of its own, taking on academia, culture and ways of developing our societies. Careful scrutiny was given to the past so that the future we envision is not annihilated from a past that has proven worth preserving. The tone of the conference was set by women of ‘Class’: Class in this sense implies those who have conquered the odds and risen to the highest positions : Professors, Doctors and Deputy Governors. Instead of persons, putting whys on their abstentia, we call upon their input in making this great institutions deliver certain agendas.
We had a moment of our ole days, food in plenty and with a touch of mama’s soup. The delicacy of mursik, chapati and other kale diets. We all forgot about the bills for a moment and roll our sleeves to dine in this replica of the village wedding. I picked at the girls in their best regalia and the boys were at corner giving a try. Gotabgaa is a place for the bachelors to find a match I suppose. We were able to interact, meet new people and catch up with old and Facebook friends.
Above all, We must learn that we are a society before being an individual, one cannot exist by himself in a vast world, I am pro- Gotabgaa.
Mshamba Abroad 