By: Kiflu Hussain

“Today is my birthday, said Abera to his girlfriend, Lulit.And she said, ‘Oh! Darling, why didn’t you let me know beforehand? To which he ruefully responded; ‘I also remembered it when I was cursing the day I was born.”

Paraphrased and roughly translated from the late Baalu Girma’s novel “Beyond the Horizon.”

Indeed, that’s how it’s with the denizens of Sub-Saharan Africa. Majority don’t know when they were born since birthdays are not recorded. Among the few who knows, they often remember it when they find themselves in a spot that forces them to regret the day they were born.

This doesn’t mean that all is doom and gloom or life isn’t celebrated at all. It’s just that for an African who is intelligent and sensitive enough to know that he/she’s a denizen in his/her own continent, celebrating birthdays Western style sucks sometimes.

On the other hand, when you constantly live in a sea of misery and “rights deprivations” (borrowed this phrase from a book ‘SURVIVAL MIGRATION,FAILED GOVERNANCE & THE CRISIS OF DISPLACEMENT’ sent to me by the author himself, Alexander Betts),some gestures and gifts which are taken for granted elsewhere means a lot to you. They save you from going totally overboard. Hence, you restrain yourself from perennially whining a negative refrain about life.

That’s what happened to me in the last couple of days. Although, last Thursday, September 5 was my 49^th birthday wherein I logged 429,240 hrs on this planet, I had entirely forgotten about it. A facebook friend named Yosef Baheru was the first who reminded me by wishing me well on the eve of my birthday. On the date itself, I celebrated it with my family pretending to be surprised for the sake of my second daughter, Sophia, who’s twelve and who baked a delicious cake meant primarily for me.

The biggest surprise, though, came from a friend, Girma Tesfaw Fantaye, my fellow countryman, a fellow in exile, fellow writer and a fellow at Stanford University in 2011.We met on the 6^th of September to savor last moments with another fellow countryman and refugee who will soon depart from Sub-Saharan Africa to a developed nation on a resettlement program. Before we embarked on the reason we met that day, Girma surprised me with a special gift that made me proud of my African heritage which I reveal on another special occasion. Suffice it to say, for the moment, that it reminded me of the song by Nigerians “Celebration, Jubilation!”

Unbeknownst to other friends I met in the last couple of months while working for a Humanitarian Innovation Project (HIP) under the auspices of University of Oxford, the second day of my 49^th birthday dovetailed with their special gift and gesture.

I received three books titled “FORCED MIGRATION & GLOBAL POLITICS” and “REFUGEES IN INTERANTIONAL RELATIONS” coupled with the book I mentioned above by the same author, Dr.Alexander Betts whom we call Alex. These precious goods were carried over to me all the way from UK and delivered alongside Oxford University T-Shirt by Dr.Naohiko Omata whom we call Nao.                                                                                                                                    

These apparently simple but profound gestures made me pause and reflect about life. I remembered the veracity of a saying I read years ago which goes as follows. “With all its sham and drudgery and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world—-Many men strive for high ideals.”

Thus, despite being a denizen of Sub-Saharan Africa with the years piling on my head, I will continue to retain high ideals without losing sense of humor. I will keep in mind Shaka Ssali’s “get better, not bitter” advice he throws every time on VOA before closing his show “Straight Talk Africa.” I will not turn ultra-conservative or reactionary or subdued as the years cumulating on my shoulder supposed to do so. Instead, it’s my dream to emulate the venerable Ethiopian Professor, Mesfin Woldemariam who has spoken implacable truth to power throughout his life and still continues to do so irrespective of his age while most of his contemporaries vied for power and property. As my birthday is also on the eve of the Ethiopian New Year (September 11),it’s my dream that those Ethiopians with years and years of experience and knowledge get involve like Prof.Mesfin and challenge the status quo  by educating; by critiquing; rather than capitulating and retiring into a dehumanizing order of the day.

Kiflu Hussain
Wardheernews Contributor
Ethiopian Social & Political Commentator exiled in Uganda
Email: kiflukam@yahoo.com
Twitter;@Hussainkiflu