Kids, it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas.
People are putting up trees with different ornaments, red and green easily becoming prominent with every turn your head makes. Songs with jingle bells and Christmas themes are beginning to ring more often as TikTok videos are casually viewed. Some are making arrangements to travel upcountry to celebrate, as has been tradition. Others are tightening their belts to accommodate the usual spending habits of the season. Others still loosen their belts to accommodate the food and drink that will overflow from the kitchen into their bellies in a short time.
But does it feel like Christmas?
Most of us have grown up with the notion that Christmas is all about giving and spending time with family. Don’t get me wrong, I am not against this. With this background, a rhetorical question arises in my mind from time to time, “How can we use the holidays to impart not only cheer but also understanding?”
This period is associated with having fun, making merry, catching up with our siblings and cousins, preparing Christmas dinner together, taking up chores and responsibilities at home, going to church, etc etc. If you are keen enough the common denominator in all of this is the
contact time with our family members increases, at least for a short while. Why not take advantage of this time to tactfully dish out knowledge on sexual and reproductive matters (yes the pun is very much intended)?
There is no better time to listen to what our cousins have to say about Gender Based Violence, what our parents or guardians have to comment on Femicide, and how our younger siblings feel about contentious issues like abortion. This is the time to moderate these conversations. The word moderate is very deliberate because commonly, these topics are very delicate, evolving very easily into shouting matches, leaving us with negative feelings towards those whose opinions differ strongly from ours. We can use this time to understand why their stand is not the same as ours, and give accurate information on the matter at hand.
Naelewa unaweza kosa hata wandred, it’s been a tough year. Lakini usiwache hiyo ikuwe excuse yako ya kutogift mtu hii Krisi. Peana hata nolej.
