Andrew
WHILE being accommodative and rescuing others in their hour of need is noble, it, however, comes with its own challenges.
“Blessed is the hand that giveth, than the one that taketh,” the Bible reads in Acts 20:35.
But the tables seem to have changed with time.
Somehow, people seem to be ungrateful and out to puncture the emotions of those that assist them.
It is not unusual to find someone being ridiculed or being beaten up for seeking to recover their money or belongings from people they helped out.
“You are a witch. Had I known earlier that you would bombard me with relentless phone calls, I would have borrowed from a bank. The money you gave me was not even enough.
“Being poor is not an offence. I will pay you when I am able to do so. In the meantime, kindly stop calling me because you are disturbing my peace,” I heard a workmate being told straight in the face by a relative he had learnt money to send his child to school.
Some people go to the extent of accusing their helpers of witchcraft.
“To be frank, from the day I borrowed money from you things have not been going on well for me. I thought you were a brother not knowing that you were trying to draw closer so that you play your magic on me,” you are told before they bang the phone.
As I commit pen to paper gentle reader, some blood brothers and sisters are no longer on talking terms because of money and other goods.
The courts are also awash with cases of women who lost their husbands to sisters they had accommodated in their homes.
“I forever rue the decision I made to bring my younger sister from the rural areas to my house. She snatched my husband from me and has the effrontery to accuse me of being a witch. I think I should have left her suffering in the rural areas. She is now cruising in my jalopy after getting me evicted from my matrimonial home,” one woman told this writer in a kombi recently.
“Munhu akanaka akarara/Asvinura chave chipembere,
“Kupepuka yave shumba inorura/Azvifunga rave rimwe zinhu,” sang the late legendary Paul Matavire in the song “Akanaka Akarara” which highlighted the ungratefulness, betrayal and fickleness of mankind.
And true to the song, the moment you draw some people close to you, it is as if you have committed a crime.
It can send you to an early grave.
Countless people out there have many and varied tales of betrayal at the hands of people they offered to assist.
At workplaces, such practices are prevalent too.
There are some characters that barely report for duty consistently, but when they finally do, one wishes they had remained away.
These are the characters that will complain bitterly against everyone except themselves and have the nerve to seek to dismantle tried and tested systems that benefit almost everyone.
Churches are no different.
Some people have been forced out of churches by fellow worshippers who accuse them of being responsible for everything bad that takes place.
It can be worse if you are a treasurer and happen to buy a house, a car or a new pair of shoes.
“A human being is just difficult to handle. The moment you buy something big or achieve a milestone you are immediately accused of dabbling in muti, stealing and all the forms of dishonesty in the world,” one guzzler said during a beer drink.
Gentle reader, let’s embrace each other and fight the elements of betrayal to achieve decency and dignity.
Inotambika mughetto.
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