In Kenya, the older men and women sitting under the tree have a name: wazee wetu, our elders. A columnist for Kenya's Education News invites young people to sit down with them.
Writer Enock Okong'o calls the elders living libraries. They carry history, hard times survived and wisdom earned over a lifetime, he writes: knowledge you will find in no search engine.
He looks to the lives of Jomo Kenyatta, Julius Nyerere, Daniel arap Moi, Nelson Mandela and Mwai Kibaki to name the values he hopes young people will carry on: courage, service, tolerance, education and a commitment to building the nation.
At the heart of his column is harambee, the Kenyan spirit of pulling together for the common good. For young people today, he writes, that means building and uniting, across tribes and social lines.
His appeal is simple: learn across the generations, and keep the wisdom of the elders alive while they are still here to share it.
Read the original at Education News
Sources
Okong'o, E. (2026, June 16). Wazee wetu: The sacred unwritten book our youth must read. Education News. https://educationnews.co.ke/wazee-wetu-the-sacred-unwritten-book-our-youth-must-read/