The Prince

Long ago in a traditional Kingdom the King sent his son to study overseas. The king could see that the world was changing and wanted the prince to study how to preserve his homeland. The King soon died and the Prince came back home. The Prince excitedly began to implement changes to preserve his people. He built schools and hospitals and waited for the village to change. However, those who went to school left the village and only those who were sick went to hospital, but the village remained the same. He then built roads to open up the land bring people to the village. But though many people passed through the village, none of them stayed The village remained the same.

Finally, he called investors to come and teach the people how to do business.  However, while the investors got rich, the people in the village began to complain because for the first time they realized they were poor. The village remained the same. Frustrated, he turned to his grandmother and said, “I have tried everything what else can I do?”  His grandmother told him, “No you have tried everything except the things that the people value. To change what our people value, you must begin with the young ones.  Nevertheless, I must warn you that if you change our values both you and they will never be the same again”.

Allan Bukusi