My Thoughts About Our Lives

I Just want to share my thoughts about our lives and how corruption crops into our society. The reality of a South Sudanese professional or worker can sometimes be very chilling to say the least. Living from hand to mouth without a foresight can really be worrying.
My eleven(11) years in a working life have left me to desire a lot.
In urban affluent life, this is how ordinarily life works(male):
Ages……………………Milestone
14-18 yrs……… High School
19-22/23……….University Education
25-30 yrs……… Careers establishment
30-35 yrs……….Establishing a family
35-40 yrs……….Getting your first asset
40-45 yrs……….Expanding your assets bases
45-50yrs…….. free from monthly income
50-60 yrs…… Enjoying your money holidaying
60-above……money taking care of you

I understand most of us did not have the benefit of passing through those milestones due to circumstances back in our country.
But I have a problem with someone paying a rent of $1,000 monthly for ten years only to go and live in a $100 house when he/she should be enjoying the investment.

Ideally, unless if one is banking on their turn to loot, one’s career opportunities diminish as soon as one reaches 45 years. And with children going to High School and universities, the future can only be gloomy.
It has to be noted now that the biggest killer of our elders is their inability to afford their children education and health and them leading a fairly comfortable living.
It’s understandable for a generation that fought the war but do we really have an an excuse?
To us, the-living-it-all-generation, why would one live in a $1,000 rental house when you do not have a house in your own country? If you don’t want to buy an under 10m house in Kenya, then please buy a piece of land back home and build on a gazette plot.

Think of when you or your spouse loses a job, what’s your fall back? Think of when kids’ education will be over and you will have to move back to South Sudan. Think of when you will not be able to sustain that life in a foreign land, and will have to move back to South Sudan.
Think of when your income will dwindle and will not be able to afford such rent and take your children to school.
Think of when you will not be able to hustle yet your children will need to finish up their education in Kenya or somewhere else.
Think of when you grow over 60 years and your children are still struggling to make ends meet, where will they stay?..
It does no harm to stay in a $400 rental house and save $600 for 3 years so that you are able to start an under 10m 5-year mortgage for a house..
Let’s think more of when we will lack when we have. It will help us to avoid despair when cannot rewind the clock.
It is my hope that this opinion agrees with our economists Elijah Siinchol and Garang Atem Ayiik.

By Eng. Deng Diar Deng